


Super Dangan Ronpa Hope v Despair

by Nhitori



Series: Everyone's Brand New and Improved Killing Game Semester [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Talentswap (Dangan Ronpa), Implied/Referenced Abuse, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-05-31 17:50:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 51
Words: 58,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15124730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nhitori/pseuds/Nhitori
Summary: Beat the game, save the princess.Despite his personal affinity for other genres, as the Ultimate Gamer, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu is very familiar with that premise.  And soon enough, he finds himself living it.  Thrown into a Killing Game soon after the discovery that his longtime online friend has a very particular Ultimate Talent, Fuyuhiko finds himself in actual danger for the first time in his life.  He'll need to learn his way around social situations, and all sorts of other things, to save himself and protect his best friend among such strange personalities as a pair of Ultimate Lucky Students who can't agree which is the real one, and a mechanic even shorter than him whose size doesn't keep her from being full of vitriol.----Currently on long hiatus, may or may not continue, please just read Mister Monokuma's Medicinal Murdergame instead.Technically a prequel to Everybody's Brand New and Improved Killing Game Semester, but either can be read without reading the other.You're welcome to discuss theories in the comments or join the discord! https://discord.gg/zWBN8JV





	1. Prologue: Arrival

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu woke up alone.

It didn’t surprise him or anything. He was used to being alone, and this wasn’t any different than most mornings in a number of ways. He woke up on the floor, in a dark room, completely alone. There was one big difference this time, though. There was no controller laying on his stomach, no television or computer monitor flickering away while music looped in a headaching drone. He hadn’t simply fallen asleep while playing games this time.

How did he get here? He searched his memories, trying to come up with something. The last thing he remembered… Oh, right. He wasn’t playing a game, for once, he’d actually left the house. He was approaching a school. The school which had decided to acknowledge his skills, the way that he’d managed to build an entire empire in an MMO economy, the way he’d climbed the ladder in so many multiplayer games’ international leaderboards. The one time it didn’t feel like that acknowledgement came with strings attached.

Well, he thought to himself, looks like it had plenty of strings after all. Although, kidnapping seemed a bit extreme. Hope’s Peak Academy was a legitimate institution, he knew that much. Still, he couldn’t deny that he was in a weird place now. He stood up to investigate, finding that the floor beneath him seemed to be wood, as did the walls. Not concrete or linoluem, and not drywall. This was certainly not the interior of a school.

He frowned, approaching the only slight light source in the room. Natural light, filtering through the blinds over a window. He reached out and found the string, carefully opening the blinds and filling the room. It was a small room overall, and the light illuminated how dusty it was. Unpleasant. He looked back to the window, out of the room, and found himself face to face with the image of a crashing wave on a bank of sand.

Was that… Real? Was it actually the ocean, actually a beach? Or was he somehow mistaken? It definitely seemed like one, but that was even more confusing to him. Well, as much as he was loathe to go out into someplace so utterly… Bright, Fuyuhiko knew that he wouldn’t get the answers he craved from inside this useless shed. He found the door, opened it, and sneezed as he stepped outside.

“Bless you,” Much to his surprise, a familiar voice spoke as soon as he’d sneezed. He turned to see somebody that he never would have expected to run into here, and decided that he had to be dreaming. There was no other possible explanation for that girl to _also_ be in this absurd place. And dressed that way, too...

“...Peko?” Fuyuhiko asked, looking her over with his brow furrowed.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” Peko said, stepping towards him with her fingertips pressed together and a soft, sad smile on her face, “So you ended up with an Ultimate Talent too, hm? I guess that I’m not surprised. You’re the Ultimate Gamer, right?”

“Yeah, I am, but…” He trailed off, “Too? Does that mean you’re also an Ultimate?”

“It does,” Peko noted, glancing away as she continued speaking, her voice shaking a tiny bit as if she was nervous to admit it, “I never mentioned it, because I thought it was nice to have a best friend online who didn’t know, but I guess you have to now. I’m actually the… Ultimate Princess.”

“Say what now?” Fuyuhiko couldn’t help but be incredulous. Peko Pekoyama, the girl who he’d carried to high levels in so many games, the Ultimate Princess? It had to be a dream. But if it was true, that might be even stranger. That they’d both end up here after knowing each other through a screen for years…

Peko sighed before speaking again, “I know that it sounds unrealistic, but it is the truth. I’d understand if you would prefer not to associate with me any further for my shameless omissions of the truth during our time together.”

“Are you kidding me?” Fuyuhiko asked, “For at least a year I was still worried you were lying to me about being a girl, Peko. This isn’t a big deal at all. But, I mean, Princess? What country even still uses those titles to an extent that you could become an Ultimate for it?”

“It’s called Poplah,” Peko said, relief in her voice that Fuyuhiko wasn’t getting too hung up on this, “It’s very small, but has a lot of political influence behind the scenes. I received my Ultimate Talent for doing well with that. I’ve technically prevented at least three nuclear bombings, if I do say so myself…”

“That’s impressive,” Fuyuhiko said, “But I can see why you wouldn’t tell me sooner. I would never have believed you, if we weren’t in this situation. No matter how much I trust you, the internet breeds lies.”

“So if we’re both here,” Peko noted, looking around, “Wherever here is… And we’re both Ultimates, does that mean that we were kidnapped from Hope’s Peak Academy? And for that matter,” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again, “There would be other Ultimates here…”

“Good thing I’m around, then. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Fuyuhiko asked. Online at least, Peko had trouble interacting with new people if he wasn’t in the same chatroom with her.

“That’s right,” Peko said with a small nod, “Introducing myself is a challenge I have yet to overcome, as I rarely need to do it in my everyday life.”

“So that’s why,” Fuyuhiko noted, “Someone else is always introducing you. Well, that’s not an achievement you need to tackle yet, I can handle introducing both of us if we run into anybody else.”

“It would be far too convenient if it were only the two of us here, and there’s a lot of space,” Peko said, “So I would assume that there are some other Ultimates present. If not all of our intended peers at Hope’s Peak, then some of them.”

“I’d assume the same,” Fuyuhiko said, crossing his arms over his chest, “We just have to go find them. So, do you accept the mission, Peko Pekoyama?”

“Of course I do,” Peko confirmed, and the two of them began to walk away from the strange hut, to locate any others who may or may not; But hopefully, existed.


	2. Prologue (Mikan)

Fuyuhiko led the way away from the cabin he'd woken up in, continuing to talk with Peko as they went, "So, where did you wake up?"

"On the porch," Peko answered, walking with impeccable posture and her hands clasped before her, eyes fixed straight ahead, "I decided to stay put in my confusion. I'm much less frightened of this strange new place now that you have joined me, though. I suppose some part of me might have known that you would also be in this place. Although, this is not quite how I imagined our first in-person meeting to go. I had been hoping to pay you a surprise visit, but for some reason I can't quite recall right now, that fell through..."

"Doesn't feel like this is our first in-person meeting, honestly," Fuyuhiko said, "I mean, it is. But it feels like we've always been this way, to tell the truth. I thought it would be kind of awkward, it usually is for at least an hour when you meet up with someone from the internet. I guess you're different though, you were my friend first and my gaming partner second... Not like all those others."

"I'm touched," Peko said, but her voice portrayed no emotion of the sort, and she suddenly pointed straight ahead, "Am I mistaken, or is that a farm?"

"That's a farm," Fuyuhiko said, agreeing as he looked at the fence, "Well, a really small... Portion of a farm, probably."

"Look at all those chickens," Peko said, speeding up a bit. Fuyuhiko could only describe her style of running as a prance, keeping that strange fragile grace. When she grabbed the edge of the fence and leaned over it to look at the chickens, though, it reminded him that she was still the same Peko he'd gotten to know, even if she had a fancy coat of paint in reality. She swung her feet out behind her a bit, betraying that she was actually a little bit excited by the idiot birds. He was so distracted by Peko, and Peko was so distracted by the chickens, that they didn't even notice there was a girl inside the chicken pen until she spoke.

"Uh, Uhm..." The girl stood up, holding one chicken in her arms like a human baby, "Hi, er, hello, I mean. You like chickens?"

"Yes, very much," Peko said, again lacking any emotion to make that statement seem sincere, "They are a majestic bird. Too dumb to know that they are royalty. Shaped... Like friends."

"Ah, ah yes! I think so too!" The girl exclaimed, "I woke up on the beach, but then I was drawn by the uh... The aura... The feeling of, of the chickens. To find the chickens, I mean. I had to come and see them!"

"I can understand why," Peko noted, "But please, do tell how you acquired the spectacularly unique ability of being psychically drawn to chickens. I would very much learn to earn this ability for myself."

"Aaahh..." The girl looked down, the large rabbit ears on her hood drooping over her face, "I'm so, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about introducing myself. I'm Mikan! Mikan Tsumiki! And, I was drawn to the chickens because I am the Ultimate Animal Breeder! And this is my favorite animal of all!" As she said that, she pointed to her own neck, and a huge albino boa constrictor snaked its head out of her hood next to her face, "Her name is Pom-pom!"

The chicken looked a little uneasy in Mikan's arms when the boa made an entrance, but didn't run away, and the snake seemed thoroughly disinterested in the chicken.

"Pom-pom is beautiful," Peko observed, "As are you, Tsumiki."

"She's Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Princess," Fuyuhiko stepped in, remembering that he told Peko he'd introduce her whenever necessary, "And I'm Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. Ultimate Gamer."

"Ultimate Gamer?" Mikan asked, turning to him, "Do you... Have you played my favorite game!?"

"I can't really answer that if you don't tell me what your favorite game is," Fuyuhiko said, rolling his eyes.

"Er... Oh... I'm sorry..." Mikan backed off, bringing a hand up to cradle her snake's head with what looked to Fuyuhiko like a melodramatic pout.

"Well, go on, spit it out," Fuyuhiko prompted her.

"Well my favorite, my favorite game is Kinectimals," Mikan said, "But Nintendogs is good too... And Disco Zoo... Zoo Tycoon... Ah, I guess I don't know what my favorite game is!"

"Let's just say your favorite game is any fucking casual game with animals in it," Fuyuhiko mumbled, stepping up to lean against the fence, propping his feet against the base as if it might make him a little bit taller, "But yeah, I played Zoo Tycoon anyway. Once or twice."

"I haven't played any of those," Peko said, "I started with World of Warcraft, then just followed Kuzuryuu to whatever other multiplayer games he thought I would like. Oh, right, we already know each other. We met through World of Warcraft several years ago."

"Yes... Yeah, I kind of, well, gathered that much," Mikan said, looking up at the sky and fidgeting with her hands as she spoke, "I don't think I knew any other Ultimates... Or any other... Any other humans, really. All my friends are animals. Animals are better than humans. Much better!"

"That's hard to refute," Fuyuhiko agreed, "Humans can suck."

"Though, you might have known another Ultimate without realizing it," Peko said, "Prior to waking up here, Kuzuryuu and I had no idea that the other was an Ultimate Student. So it's possible, isn't it?"

"I guess you're right," Mikan looked to Peko again, and gave a small smile, just as genuine as the giggle that accompanied it, "I doubt it! But, maybe Ultimates are nicer than most humans, so I can make friends anyway..."

"We are already your friends," Peko said.

"Hey, I never agreed to that!" Fuyuhiko griped, but then relented, "I guess, though, if it'd make you happy, you can think we're friends. I won't be mean to you on purpose, anyway. Long as you stay in your lane..."

"What exactly is my lane anyway...?" Mikan asked, "I can't stay in it if I don't know what it is!"

"Just..." Fuyuhiko groaned, "Deal with your animals, and just stick to that, right? Just cause we're friends doesn't mean you need to stick your nose in my business."

"Oh, I can do that," Mikan said, "Don't worry, I'm not nosy at all! I'm just glad you won't be mean to me..."


	3. Prologue (Gundam)

“Pardon the intrusion,” Yet again Fuyuhiko was caught off guard by somebody else’s presence and sudden speech at this small farm, and turned to see a man dressed very strangely. The long leather duster did not seem to match the muscle tank and athletic shorts at all, but at least that dissonance was consistent with the rather average-sized man’s absurdly deep voice, “But did I hear you speaking of… Auras?”

“Um, yeah… yes, the uh. The aura of chickens,” Mikan answered, “Why?”

“As an agent of chaos placed upon this earth, the viewing of auras is a low-tier ability that even humans can acquire, but which I’ve had my entire life…” He was mumbling, then suddenly shouted as he pointed at the three of them, “And you three all have the auras of champions! Pray tell, could it be that you are also Ultimate Students?”

“That’s the truth,” Peko said, “Kuzuu?”

“Don’t call me that around other people!” Fuyuhiko scolded her, but then stepped up and introduced himself again, Peko again, and Mikan while he was at it, since she was looking at him so expectantly. Of course the Animal Breeder would have spectacular puppy-dog eyes.

“I see, I see,” The man said, then struck an odd pose, “Myself, my true name is unable to be spoken by the mortal tongue, so you may call me by my common name, Gundam Tanaka! I hold the title of Ultimate Coach, a frankly underwhelming explanation for my innate power of driving all in my sight to reach their full and true potential as not only human beings, but entities in this world, period!”

“Oh, I thought your Ultimate Talent would be being dramatic,” Fuyuhiko noted.

Gundam didn’t even seem to take offense to this, “Of course I am dramatic! My talent is to inspire dramatic change and improvement! You, for example! It’s clear you are already at the top of your field, but the sunlight causes discomfort to your species… The unfortunate gamerus rex cannot properly survive in a paradise environment, but I will teach you to adapt and overc-”

“I have a hoodie,” Fuyuhiko said, pointing to the hood that was, in fact, shielding his face from the sun, “And before you launch into a spiel about heat stroke, or I dunno, distressing warmth of sunbeams, whatever you’d call it,” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a full-sized water bottle, “I keep hydrated. I’m the Ultimate Gamer, not some run-of-the-mill idiot who sacrifices his own health completely.”

“Kuzuu is so smart,” Peko said matter-of-factly. He didn’t bother calling her on the nickname this time.

“I see, I see,” Gundam said, then looked between Peko and Mikan for a moment, “In that case, given that Kuzuryuu of the House of Gamer has already taken all necessary steps to self-improvement I could recommend… It appears that I have no advice for any of you at this moment! You have my sincerest congratulations and commendations, as you are truly living as your best selves!”

“I wouldn’t, I don’t know if I would say, that,” Mikan mumbled.

“Being timid may be something to work on, certainly, but a soft personality is essential to working with animals! That may be an inconvenient personal trait if you would like to change it, but I would not consider it a flaw!” Gundam was still yelling, “Also, may I say that I am a huge fan of your beautiful familiar? It is powerful, and can intimidate others in your stead!”

“If this guy was in game chat, the audio levels would be breaking left and right…” Fuyuhiko complained under his breath.

“He would need at least three pop filters, I believe,” Peko agreed.

“Her name is Pom-pom,” Mikan told Gundam as she pet her snake, “And she’s really very friendly… But, you’re right. If she did think that I was in danger, then she would certainly protect me. A boa of this size can kill a horse, you know. Even the largest human is nothing compared to a horse! Not that I’d ever want her to kill a horse or a human… Of course I wouldn’t… But it is an, um, an ability she has!”

“Understandable,” Gundam said, finally reducing his volume a bit as he crossed his arms and nodded, “Even when a capability cannot and should not be actioned, it is good to acknowledge that the capability is there. An important part of existing as your strongest self is informing others of the fact you are capable, so that they may strive to reach your astral level and also be their strongest selves!”

“And be a, be a role model?” Mikan asked, eyes wide, “No, that sounds like far too much responsibility!”

“Oh, no, it is completely understandable if you would prefer to hide your astral level for your own safety as well! Yours does seem quite high, and many would see that as a threat or a challenge!” Gundam backtracked, “In any case, it entirely up to you how you choose to carry yourself, and which skills you would choose to disclose for that matter. I apolgize for jumping to conclusions! I often forget it is possible for those with a high astral level to still be unprepared for certain responsibilities, and I would never wish to push a cosmic burden onto one whose shoulders cannot carry it!”

“Peko,” Fuyuhiko said, “Let’s get out of here. I have a sinking feeling that these two… are probably going to go around in circles for a little while.”

“I agree,” Peko said, then walked away from the fence. They only wandered a few moments more, not even enough time to begin a conversation before they saw something else of interest on the horizon. Peko was the first to point it out, “Is it just me, or does that appear to be… An airport?”

“Yeah, it does. I guess it makes sense for an island to have that,” Fuyuhiko said, “It’s still a ways off, but do you want to go check it out?”

“I am a completionist,” Peko said, “So, of course. You never know if there might be some variety of hidden collectible in any given location. Not to mention, we don’t have any idea what our objective is… Like in the game Vice City Manhattan, we must just, as they say, throw shit at the wall and see what sticks.”

“Good point,” Fuyuhiko agreed with a nod, and forged the way toward that distant airport, Peko at his side. He was pretty sure at this point that everyone on this island was an Ultimate. Now, to find out why, or at least find out who all were actually here. Normally, he wouldn’t care about something like this in real life, but he was somehow intrigued. Maybe it was because of Peko, or because they were other Ultimates, but the reason didn’t matter.

All that mattered was that he was doing it.


	4. Prologue (Airport)

Upon arriving at the airport, Fuyuhiko and Peko discovered that there wasn't much of interest inside. No security checkpoint or anything, just one singular desk with a baggage scale. They approached the doors on the opposite side, opening to find that they opened straight out onto the tarmac. There were a few planes out there, but something about them just looked like junk to Fuyuhiko. He'd played enough Vice City Manhattan to know what an unusable vehicle looked like, that much was for sure. He and Peko had made a bet regarding which of them could beat the poorly-made pc game first. She'd actually won it, because he got stuck for four hours on the second to last level.

Gaming skills meant nothing in the world of Vice City Manhattan. It was dumb luck through the broken physics engine. In any case, though, Fuyuhiko couldn't imagine any of these planes could actually fly, even if somebody among them could fly a plane in the first place.

"There's somebody," Peko said, pointing at one of the planes, and Fuyuhiko looked that way to find, yes, there was somebody. There was somebody sitting on the wing of one of the planes, for all the world resembling a standard punk-rock star, down to the strange squat on the edge of the wing and the absolutely dead look in his eyes.

Much more accessible than the man on the plane was the one on the ground, taking pictures of the man on the plane. He was dressed in a fairly normal fashion, excluding the fact that it looked like he may at any moment burst out of that clothing. Fuyuhiko approached and greeted him, "Let me guess, you're the Ultimate Photographer?'

"That I am!" The photographer answered. He had a naturally booming voice, but it didn't feel anywhere near as much like yelling as Gundam's had, "And this young man has provided me with the perfect photography subject, as well! The stark contrast of his gothic-"

"It's punk, not goth," The guy on the wing interrupted.

"His punkish clothing, against the tropical sun glinting along the wing of the plane? It is beyond spectacular!" He continued his original statement with the correction, "My name is Nekomaru Nidai, by the way. And this is Hajime Hinata!"

"Hey," Hajime waved, "I'm the Ultimate Light Music Club Member... I know, it's a mouthful. I decided to indulge this guy with his artsy photography. He doesn't really look the type, but I guess those muscles can help get a good shot? I mean, that's how I got up here."

"He threw you?" Peko asked.

"No," Hajime scoffed, but it was good-natured, "He just lifted me up. It's not _that_ far off the ground, you know. So who are you guys?"

Fuyuhiko sighed and introduced them both again.

"Cool," Hajime said, "Nice to meet you. Have you met anyone else so far? I've just met Nidai."

"Yes, are there others?" Nekomaru asked, "If there are many people here, I would love to photograph them! Especially if they have styles as distinct as those I have witnessed thusfar!"

"We've met a few," Fuyuhiko said, "The Ultimate Animal Breeder and the Ultimate Coach. They were, uh... Clashing personalites."

"One very timid, one very forward," Peko added on,"I don't think they noticed that we left them at the farm. By the way there is a farm. There are chickens there."

"I will have to document these chickens," Nekomaru noted, "They are inhabitants of this island as well! And while I may have no idea of the nature of our presence here, I will want to make a scrapbook in the future of whatever happens here! My scrapbooking skills are almost as good as my photography skills! Were multiple Ultimate Talents allowed, surely I would also be the Ultimate Scrapbooker..."

"Yeah, sure," Hajime said, "Can I get off the plane now? Please?'

"Of course!" Nekomaru exclaimed, then approached the wing and helped Hajime get back onto the ground. Once he was on solid ground again, he approached Peko and Fuyuhiko once more.

"Anyway," Hajime said, "It's nice to meet you both. I may dress like this, but it's just cause of the type of music I play. Gotta match the genre. I might try and see if there's something more lightweight around though, or I'm gonna end up sweltering in this heat. I'm not so punk rock that I can't admit that. I promise, I'm actually a pretty cool guy-"

"I don't care," Fuyuhiko said, then took a step back, "You have a point about sweltering, though. This tarmac's hotter than satan's asscrack. Can we please go back inside? Or better yet, I'd rather keep looking around. You guys can do whatever you want."

"Hinata," Nekomaru said, "Will you come with me to meet these so-called chickens?"

"So-called chickens? Are you thinking that they're lying and the farm actually just has two hundred lizards?" Hajime asked, "But, yeah, I guess so. Maybe those others will still be there and we can get acquainted with them, too? Might help us get our bearings."

"A wonderful idea," Nekomaru said, then clapped one of his especially large hands against Fuyuhiko's especially small shoulders. Both shoulders. That hand basically spanned the entire width of Fuyuhiko's back. How was this guy so huge? He knew he was a pretty small guy, but that was more normal than this guy being _so huge_.

"We'll see you later, probably," Hajime said with a mock salute in Fuyuhiko's direction, "Try not to interrupt anybody before they get the chance to tell you they're planning to kill you or something, kay? That's pretty rude. Let murderers finish their sentences even if you won't let me."

Before Fuyuhiko could come up with a retort, those two had already gone back inside the airport's building. Peko turned to Fuyuhiko and spoke, "You know, this isn't XBox Live. I know you are capable of being friendly."

"Capable, sure, but I'm not exactly in a great mood," Fuyuhiko said, "I'm really warm, but if I take off the hoodie, I'll get a sunburn. All these people are way too goddamn intense. And fuck if I know why we're even here... The only good thing about this is that you're here."

"And chickens," Peko said.

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed with a solemn nod, "The chickens too."


	5. Prologue (Rocket Punch Market)

After leaving the airport, the next location that seemed of interest looked as if it was a convenience store. A bright sign lit up over the door which read 'Rocket Punch Market', and unlike the other places they had previously been to, this market actually seemed to be alive. Not that the building itself was going to grow legs and walk around or anything like that, but it just seemed like an actual place of business where the farm, beach shack, and airport all gave off the impression of having been long deserted. This store did not.

Peko opened the door first, only for the both of them to be confronted by two enthusiastic, starry-eyed girls. One of them, the blonde one, shouted, "Goodie! More votes!"

"Give us the votes," The other said, somehow crossing together enthusiasm with sleepiness in her voice.

"What exactly are we voting on?" Peko asked, "Please let my friend and I inside."

The two girls stepped back to let them in, then the blonde one spoke again, "My name is Sonia Nevermind and I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student!"

"But I'm Mukuro Ikusaba, the Ultimate Lucky Student..." The other said, "So you need to vote... Which of us is actually this year's Lucky Student?"

"...Who says that you're from the same class?" Peko asked.

The both of them blinked, then Mukuro spoke again, "Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"We don't remember how we got here, so I guess we might be wrong about being the same age too," Sonia admitted, then turned and called out into the store, "Owari! We figured out a compromise! Actually this smart girl who showed up from absolutely nowhere did, come and meet her! And also her manlet friend!"

"Excuse me!?" Fuyuhiko questioned, but it was quickly glossed over as a woman in a red cocktail dress and a chef's coat, with several slim jims hanging out of her mouth burst out of a nearby aisle.

She grabbed the slim jims out of her mouth, then greeted the pair, "Hey, hey! That is super smart! I should have thought of that! By the way, I'm Akane Owari and I'm the Ultimate Chef! I bet you two are Ultimates too, right?"

Fuyuhiko introduced them, then looked to the slim jims, "If you're the Ultimate Chef, why are you eating garbage?"

"Well," Akane lifted her other hand to scratch at her cheek with a sheepish grin, "I didn't exactly try to become the Ultimate Chef or anything! It's just that I eat a ton of food and that would get boring if I just ate the same stuff all the time! So I learned to cook four thousand different dishes! That's right, four thousand! Be my friend long enough and someday you'll get to try them all!"

"Four thousand dishes?" Peko asked, "That would require making one dish every day for about twelve years, wouldn't it?"

"Mostly! Though I definitely doubled up on a bunch of days too! Got to eat lots and lots of different foods, you know? I think there were even days I made ten different meals and ate at least one serving out of each!" Akane explained, "I mean, until people started getting me to cater events for them, I didn't have anybody to share my food with anyway. I had to eat it all myself, but that's fine, cause I love to eat even more than I love to cook... Then I love seeing other people like what I cook even more than I like to eat!"

"Owari has already promised to make Ikusaba and I our favorite meals, given the opportunity," Sonia said, "She really is a very kind girl! And given how utterly worthless my Ultimate Talent is, it's even more amazing that she would show me such kindness!" She hesitated, turning to Mukuro, "Though, I wouldn't consider your luck to be a worthless talent, I'm sure it's a much better sort of Ultimate Luck than what I've managed to acquire!"

"Wow, thank you..." Mukuro mumbled, rubbing at one of her eyes, "But you know, if everyone here is an Ultimate, you really should become more comfortable being an Ultimate, Sonia..."

"Ahh, I guess you have a point there!" Sonia noted, putting her hands on her hips, "It's just so strange, you know? Getting picked as an Ultimate, when your whole life you just thought that you were an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances..."

"I wouldn't think of it that way. By that logic, any Ultimate was just an ordinary person with an extraordinary skill who got picked to be an Ultimate," Mukuro said, looking up at the ceiling now, "But when the talent is Ultimate Luck, the circumstances are the skill. You're the same as you ever were, you just got your talent noticed. And the only way to notice the power of Ultimate Luck has to be... A lottery. It's not that strange if you really think about it."

"It feels strange, though! Everyone else is so impressive, but then I'm just here," Sonia laughed a bit between her words, "Ah, well. I'm not fishing for pity or anything, I promise! So I'm gonna go ahead and stop talking about this."

"That's very mature of you," Fuyuhiko observed, "Realizing when you're being fucking annoying, and actually stopping instead of continuing on until nobody around you can bite their tongue anymore."

"Wow, aren't you a bundle of joy," Mukuro said, then yawned, "I think we can be friends, though... What type of games do you like? I know I'm a casual, I like nintendo games sometimes though... They're always so nice and bright."

"Nothing wrong with that," Fuyuhiko said, "As long as casuals admit they're casuals, I have no beef with you. Usually I play multiplayer games where I can climb up competitive ranks, though. These past few years I carry Peko, too. She can play tank or healer pretty well in games with roles like that, by now, so it's more like we just work together."

"He's still a million times better than me," Peko clarified, "But I can hold my own."

"Awh, that's cute," Sonia said, clasping her hands behind her back and leaning forward toward them, "I haven't really played games before, I never had the chance. If I do get the opportunity, do you have anything you'd recommend for a beginner?"

"Almost any game, honestly," Fuyuhiko said, "As long as you follow the learning curve, most games expect that you don't already know how to play. Some multiplayer games, you might need some outside guidance to figure out what the curve is supposed to be, but most of them are really self-intuitive. Maybe family-friendly games, though? Games rated only for adults don't assume you know how to play them individually, but do assume you've probably played a video game before. And some really are just difficult beyond any sort of curve, but you can usually tell."

"Oh, that's great!" Sonia laughed a little, "The way people talk about video games, it kind of feels like I'm too late to start seeing the appeal. But I'll trust your word over what I've heard before, since you are an Ultimate after all!"

Fuyuhiko turned away, frowning, "Those sorts of people... Are just idiots. If video games were meant to be this exclusive thing, then they wouldn't have learning curves and tutorials built in to them. Just because you're new to gaming doesn't mean people should give you shit about it. The only real exclusive bits of the gaming community, you can't get into without skills anyway. Or money, I guess, these days. Fucking whales..."

"Not to mention," Peko added, "You could have a natural ability. I improved quite quickly after I got started, for example. And there are games with an element of luck, which you may excel in."

"That's nice to hear!" Sonia said, "Wow, you're so nice and smart too!"

"Sonia," Akane whined from where she stood, "Where's _my_ praise?"

"You're nice and you're beautiful," Sonia said to Akane, and Fuyuhiko noted the clear avoidance to call Akane smart as had been done with Peko, "And I haven't tried your food yet, but I'll trust in your abilities!"

"Hell _yeah_ ," Akane almost seemed to growl these words. She seemed like a puppy, somehow. Not even an adult dog, despite the fact that although Fuyuhiko was sure they were all high-schoolers, she certainly had the look of an adult woman about her. Even still, she was a puppy.

"Well," Peko said, dipping her head a bit, "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of you, but I think that there are probably more people to meet. We've been exploring the whole island. So, we should move on. Have a wonderful day, okay?"

"Of course!" Sonia said, "See you later, then~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't expect to escape without something as confusing as Twogami, did you?


	6. Prologue (Hiyoko)

Across from the Rocket Punch Market was what appeared to be a very large and somewhat luxurious hotel. Peko and Fuyuhiko agreed silently in one moment, that was much too overwhelming for them for them to tackle straight away, especially after what had just happened with the rather large personalities they’d just met. It would be nice to avoid walking into another conflict, benign as the last one was. So it was that the both of them instead veered to the left, around the large hotel to instead find a smaller, but still substantial building off to the side. It was shuttered at the windows, but otherwise didn’t seem to be in disrepair or anything like that.

Peko took the first step toward it, but Fuyuhiko strode past her to carelessly open the door. In a game, he would have been much more careful, but when it came to reality, he didn’t really have much in the way of reasonable self-preservation. Luckily in this case, it didn’t seem like he needed it… Probably.

There was what looked to be a young girl on the far wall, who recoiled from the sunlight and covered her eyes with a hiss, though not a wordless vampiric hiss, there were words there. Just took a moment for Fuyuhiko to interpret that she was saying, “That’s way too goddamn bright you pissbaby! Don’t you know the meaning of the word ajar?”

“I do,” Fuyuhiko said with a shrug, “I didn’t see any reason to make this door, ajar. I just opened it. So why were you hiding in the dark anyway? You some kind of infant vampire?”

“If anyone’s an infant here it’s you, I already called you a baby! That’s super lame, not even coming up with your own original banter,” She groaned, then stood up and walked over, “If you _must_ know, the only reason I didn’t move from where I was is because it was so dark, I had no way of knowing if there was a hole in the floor, or a bear trap, or just something dangerous in the darkness. Darkness isn’t scary, but not knowing what’s in it? That’s petrifying. Not like you’d know, you look like you’ve never experienced that sort of feeling in your entire miserable life. All two years of it.”

“Well, that’s fair,” Fuyuhiko admitted, “Even during power outages, I generally know the layout of the room I’m in. Well-played.”

“Damn right, well-played, I sure did read you right,” The girl smirked, pointing a finger-gun at him. Now that she was next to him, she was just a few inches shorter than he was, making them both absurdly small, “Ultimate Gamer.”

“How did you know I’m an Ultimate?” Fuyuhiko asked, not bothering to wonder how she figured out what that talent was. If she figured out he had an Ultimate Talent, it wasn’t that hard to realize what it was. He had the gamer look, with all the black and red.

“Cause I’m an Ultimate,” The girl said, then jerked her thumb toward Peko, “And she’s obviously some sort of Ultimate, normal people don’t dress like that from day to day. And that makes you an Ultimate. Are there any other Ultimates I should know about?”

“There are several all around the island,” Peko said, joining the conversation, “And pardon me, but I’m afraid that I can’t tell by looking at you what your Ultimate Talent would be.”

“Hiyoko Saionji,” The girl introduced herself, “Ultimate Mechanic! I can fix a car and a shitty attitude in one fell swoop! People think I can’t do my job cause I’m a little girl ain’t about to think that for long!”

“Oh, I see,” Peko observed, pressing her hands together, “Your small size is an advantage. You can maneuver beneath vehicles with more accuracy and grace.”

“Aw yeah, she gets it,” Hiyoko snickered, then looked to Fuyuhiko again, “Though I can’t for the life of me figure out how _your_ stature might help with playing video games…”

“My growth was stunted because I don’t go out in the sun often enough and my diet consists of chips and soda?” Fuyuhiko offered, though really he had no idea why he wasn’t taller or less baby-faced by now. He was older than most kids were by the time they got growth spurts, so maybe his theory made sense. Although his diet was actually a bit better than he’d said. Chips and soda were convenient, but just made those who ate them feel worse later on. And Fuyuhiko didn’t want to get scurvy either. A true gamer understood the value of vegetables.

“Oh, I see. Playing the, stature is a result of your talent, not a contributing condition to it, card. Clever, clever,” Hiyoko gave a nod as she crossed her arms over her chest, “Maybe you _are_ a worthy adversary after all!”

“I’m not trying to be an adversary,” Fuyuhiko muttered, looking away, “But thanks, I guess.”

“Anyway, since you helped me get out of this place, I guess I should take a look around…” Hiyoko noted, sort of swaying where she stood, “I’m itching for something to do, but I dunno if there’s actually anything around here!”

“Oh, well,” Peko noted, “There are a great number of broken down airplanes over at the airport. I think it’s back,” She pointed, “That direction. Would that be interesting to you?”

“Yes, absolutely, perfect!” Hiyoko said, then started to run off, but turned and looked back to the two of them and called out to them again, “Wait, okay. You guys might actually be kind of worth my time, so what’s your names?”

Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes, then gave yet another introduction.

“All right, well, I’ll remember that!” Hiyoko said, then gave a joking salute along with a pointy-toothed grin, “Smell you later!”

Then, she was gone, leaving Fuyuhiko and Peko with no option but to tackle the final frontier of the giant hotel, if they were going to do anything at all. Peko took action against that, though, and sat down on the steps of this building instead, sighing, “Meeting all of these people is somehow exhausting. I have met far more people than this on a normal day, but I guess that the fact they’re Ultimates makes it kind of different.”

“Why are we bothering to meet all these people, anyway? Nobody else seems to give a shit about meeting each other,” Fuyuhiko said, sitting down next to her, “It’s not like I’m a very social person. And you don’t even know how to introduce yourself.”

“That’s true,” Peko said, “But I feel like, with my talent, it’s kind of my responsibility to be aware of the situation and all the cards in play, don’t you? And knowing who’s here with us, that’s important too. As the Ultimate Princess, I do need to have a certain degree of knowledge. If a crisis arose, I need to know every asset which could help to alleviate it. Even if discovering those assets is tiring. Though, you don’t _need_ to do it with me, I’d understand if you would rather not.”

“No, it’s fine,” Fuyuhiko said, “You’re right. It’s important to know everything and everyone we’re dealing with. I guess we gotta tackle that hotel.”


	7. Prologue (Restaurant)

After recharging their social batteries sufficiently, Peko and Fuyuhiko decided to tackle the hotel, but take it slow. There was a side entrance that seemed to go directly to the hotel's restaurant, which lacked in any sort of title besides 'restaurant'. They approached it, then Peko made her observation, "Hotel restaurants are usually very overpriced."

"Well, it's not like we're going to be buying anything," Fuyuhiko mumbled, "And there weren't any employees in the market, so I don't think there would be any here either. Come on, before I change my mind."

"Right," Peko agreed, then stepped past him and pushed the door open. The moment it was open, two men turned to stare at her, and she somehow felt like she'd been interrupting a tense moment. One was in a pinstripe suit, and very fat, and looked angry. The other was in an ill-fitting lab coat, somehow both too large and too short, and appeared frightened. But when Fuyuhiko joined her, he didn't get the same feeling at all.

"Hey, you're new. Who are you losers?" He asked, completely oblivious to the tension between them. Both men stared at them for a while, then the much larger one spoke, his voice intimidating and sharp between his teeth.

"This matter does not concern you, strangers."

"I think that it does concern us," Peko said, crossing her arms over her chest, "Why, exactly, are the both of you clashing? If you are under some impression that one of you was responsible for the kidnapping of the other, I must say that seems highly unlikely. I believe the person responsible for our arrival on this island has yet to make an opinion."

"Just how stupid are you?" The large man questioned, "Obviously, a man like this could never kidnap _me_. He is puny and pathetic, and has dared to insult my family name."

"Hey man," The other spoke up again, "I wasn't trying to insult you, I was trying to look out for you!"

"Please, explain the situation. I am an objective third party and could offer mediation," Peko said.

"I was minding my own business, eating a great meal to replenish my strength and brainpower," The large man said, "And this pathetic fellow sees fit to offer that I should be eating something else, clearly passing a judgment based on my size! I'll have you know, the Yamaguchi clan has had large heirs for several generations now, and never have we had any problems stemming from our weight. It is a sign of the power we hold!"

"It has nothing to do with that!" The other protested, "I'm the Ultimate Nurse, okay? I wasn't passing a judgment based on your size, I know better than to think that just because somebody looks big they're unhealthy! I just noticed what you were eating had way too much salt on it, and that's no good for anyone, okay?"

"I'm stronger than some salt," The larger man said, "It is a mockery of my fortitude to imply that I would fall to something so simple."

"That's the job of health professionals," Peko said, glaring at him, "Now, I can understand if you may have had a personal home doctor your entire life who always told you what you wanted to hear, but you cannot possibly hold everybody to those same standards. The world at large will inform you that it's rare you will truly be mocked. Jumping at chances like this to become angry will leave you blind to the serious situations."

"Who... Who are you?" Was the only response that Peko received.

"Peko Pekoyama, heir to the throne of the country of Poplah. And, the Ultimate Princess. Clearly, as the Ultimate Yakuza, there are still areas you need to work on. I'd assume that you're skilled in work relating particularly to your family history, and in leadership, but standing on equal ground to others poses a challenge for somebody who's used to being in charge. But, as we are all Ultimates here, we _do_ need to be on the same level," Peko explained, actually managing to introduce herself, "Nobody here is a regular member of society, and we are in no way above them."

"I see," He noted, stepping down and looking away, "Well then. I will not be disclosing my full name, so you may simply call me Yamaguchi. I apologize for my outburst. You are correct on the nature of my Ultimate Talent."

"It's not surprising..." The other guy involved in the dispute spoke up again, "You were really scary! Not that I'm easily scared, either, but you obviously know what you're doing! I swear, again, I didn't mean to get on your bad side at all or anything. I wasn't lying about being the Ultimate Nurse. The name's Kazuichi Souda."

"You better not start fighting again the minute we leave," Fuyuhiko grumbled, mostly to himself, but they could still hear him.

"The stress of the situation caused me to act in an irrational manner," Yamaguchi said, "Usually, I would not jump to such conclusions. Pekoyama reminded me of the true nature of things here. We are on equal footing, and need to behave as such in order to determine how we've ended up here."

"Yeah, that's a good point!" Kazuichi agreed, "I mean, seriously! Who could have kidnapped _multiple_ Ultimates to a place like this? That has to take resources..."

"Well, the first step would be determining where here is, and just how many of us have been Shanghaied," Yamaguchi observed, "Miss Pekoyama, do you have any information on that front?"

"Yes," Peko said with a small nod, "So far, including ourselves and the pair of you, there seems to be twelve of us here."

"I haven't met anyone else yet," Kazuichi said, "There's really eight other Ultimates out on this island?"

"No, it has to be more than that," Yamaguchi noted, pressing a hand to his own chin, "Before I came in here to hunt down something to eat, I did spot somebody in the lobby out of the corner of my eye. Given that these two came from another direction..."

"That's probably somebody else, yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed, "Everyone we ran into so far, didn't go far from where they woke up. Mostly surprised to see us, so even if they didn't say anything about it, I can bet that they hadn't met anyone else outside of where we ran into them."

"Well, the only way to find out is to continue gathering information," Yamaguchi said, "And since you've already begun such a task, do you mind if I request that it continue being an endeavor on your part?"

"Of course," Peko said, then started to walk toward the restaurant's other door, back out toward the lobby, but turned back and offered Yamaguchi a small smile, "You know, one of those we've met is the Ultimate Chef. I'm sure that she could make you something you'd appreciate that still suits Souda's sensibilities."

"That's very kind of you to mention," Yamaguchi said, while Kazuichi just gave a nervous chuckle in response.

Fuyuhiko nodded to both of them before following Peko into the hotel's lobby.


	8. Prologue (Lobby)

Following Peko into the lobby was a mistake, because while walking into a fight between two unfamiliar men was one sort of situation, it was another altogether to walk into a fight between an unfamiliar man and an unfamiliar woman. The man was another shorty, shorter than Fuyuhiko and even shorter than Hiyoko in all honesty. Aside from that, he looked strangely normal, wearing a simple school uniform. The only other thing which was anything other than ordinary about him was the fact that he was clutching his nose with drips of blood falling between his fingers.

The girl looked wild. Her hair was long and untamed, and while her outfit looked like it would be easy to move in, it still stood out. A bright pink hoodie over an aqua-colored leotard, and no shoes, just ankle socks. She was shouting, and seemed to be much more angry than her actual words portrayed, "Ibuki didn't mean to! It isn't like Ibuki's foot was trying to hit your stupid face but your stupid face shouldn't have been in the way! Can you really blame me?"

"...Yes?" The average-looking guy mumbled through his fingers, "That's really how you treat a nice guy who tries to say hello?"

"Hey! You strangers!" The girl who was apparently named Ibuki suddenly noticed Peko and Fuyuhiko, pointing at them, "Settle this for us, right? If you're minding your own business practicing your high-kick stretches and some creep comes up saying, 'hey yo, bitch, can your legs spread that much lying down?' are you to be held responsible if one of those high kicks happens to be in his general vicinity and happens to connect?"

"You made me sound way too vulgar!" The guy protested.

"Well, if I tried to quote you verbatim it wouldn't sound natural! Ibuki got the spirit of the comment, right?" Ibuki protested right back, crossing her arms over her chest, "It's more like you said, 'hi there, I bet that flexibility has another use', but come on! Isn't that the same thing?"

"The first one is an insulting question, the second one is a compliment that proves I observed a skill that you have..." He said.

"In my humble opinion," Fuyuhiko spoke up, "It's creepy either way, but... Is it just a nosebleed, or is his nose broken? The second is probably excessive."

"Come on! How would Ibuki break his stupid nose? No high kick can be that strong without shoes on!" She explained, gesturing toward him, "He's being a drama queen, that's all."

"Not like you aren't being dramatic too," He complained, then turned to the newcomers, "I'm sorry that I had to make such a poor first impression here. I am Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Reserve Course Student. Even before arriving at Hope's Peak Academy, where I had enrolled as a normal student in what was to the reserve course just an especially prestigious prep school, I proved myself to be an excellent student, with no particular talent but with such an all-around jack of all trades capability that I was named an Ultimate for that reason. I do hope that gives you a better impression."

"That may be impressive," Peko said, "But I am unsure of it being a good first impression. A brag right off the bat like that? That's the hallmark of somebody who is insecure in the very abilities they're bragging about. That is something I've learned through online games. Somebody who claims they are only good in one role in a game, probably isn't even good at that one."

"Oh, come on..." Teruteru whined, "You're even shooting down my attempts at damage control now? Ultimate Girls are cute but brutal!"

"Anyway," Fuyuhiko ignored him, turning to Ibuki instead, "You're... Ibuki? There another name to go along with that one, or just Ibuki?"

"Ibuki Mioda!" The girl saluted him as she introduced herself for real, "And I really am the Ultimate Gymnast! I've been accepted onto and subsequently cut from more competition teams than any gymnast alive today, or probably ever in history, cause I'm just that badass!"

"I see," Peko said, "Why have you been cut from all those teams, though?"

"It ain't like I'm no good!" Ibuki explained, bouncing between her feet, "I really am, I promise! I'm just so bad at following directions, I couldn't work with a team, ever, you know? They'd say, you have to do a cartwheel at this specific time, and I'd be all, no way! I don't wanna do a darn cartwheel at that time! I'm gonna do backflips whenever I please!"

"So your Ultimate Talent was awarded in recognition of your pure potential and raw ability, rather than how you've honed it... Though I suppose that is in the true spirit of a talent, so I can't say that's wrong," Peko said.

"You go easy on her for bragging?" Teruteru asked. Peko just shrugged in response, and he looked away again with a heavy sigh.

"I'm not exactly a fan of the fact that we walked in on two fights in a row," Fuyuhiko spoke up, complaining, "Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. Ultimate Gamer. Not used to this shit, at all. Disputes in games are never actually personal, at least, none that I ever got involved in. So neither of you made a good first impression on me."

"Ibuki's sorry," Ibuki apologized, looking away, "Ibuki never meant to get in a fight, I promise!"

"I should offer an introduction as well," Peko spoke softly, "Peko Pekoyama. I was granted the title of Ultimate Princess due to the work that I've done for my country of origin."

"A princess, huh?" Teruteru said, removing his hands from his face to look up at her now, "I should have been able to tell, looking at you. You've got some majesty to you for _sure_. Dress is a little bit short for a princess, though-"

"I am a modern day princess," Peko noted, "I believe that a knee-length skirt is perfectly appropriate. It's quite a bit longer than many royalty wear these days, you know. Most modern royal women go for pencil skirts, or similar things, and that's only on the occasion they are actually dressing to be seen."

"I'll be grateful that you're not the sort of modern princess to dress in jeans, then," Teruteru said.

"If that's the sort of thing that would make you grateful, I'm starting to side with Mioda after all," Fuyuhiko muttered.

"Come on, can you really be mad at me for what's natural?" Teruteru asked, "I'm still a normal guy, I can't help admiring the female form! Surely, you relate?"

"No," Fuyuhiko deadpanned, "I don't see the appeal in behaving like an absolute lech to actual human people, fuckwit. Maybe if you weren't _leading_ with that behavior, but good grief. You're no better than idiots on chat who freak out when a girl's playing the game."

"No, no, I assure you!" Teruteru waved his hands in front of himself, "I do respect women! I respect them for all that they are capable of, as well as their raw sexual power! I would never doubt the capability of a woman, just as I would never doubt the potential a man has to be sexy! I have a true and full belief in equality and integrate that into my everyday life!'

"I'm not sure if that's better or worse. Or if it's true, given you've only exhibited lecherous behavior towards Mioda and myself thus far," Peko observed.

"It's much easier to flirt in a straightforward manner toward women! They just have so many different assets..." The blood from his nose started dripping down his face again as he said this, staring dreamily into the distance.

"Kuzu," Peko got his attention, "Let's leave. There might be somebody in the hotel's hallways, beyond the lobby. I don't believe we'll discover much further with these two. Mioda? Will you be all right if we leave you here with him?"

"Why wouldn't Ibuki be okay?" Ibuki asked, blinking in Peko's direction, "I am so much physically stronger than he is, it isn't funny. Go ahead! I'll seeya later, though!"


	9. Prologue (Hallway)

As Peko expected, there were people in the hallway. Lucky enough, these ones weren't hostiles. Both of them were sitting on the floor, across the hallway from each other and slightly offset, not seeming to be having any sort of conversation but lacking in animosity at the same time. One was a girl dressed in what appeared to be somewhat vintage clothing, intended for a man to wear but which she wore with spectacular appearance and confidence, augmented by the sword on her back.

The other was similarly discordant with his gender, to a similarly low extent. He was dressed in a yukata which seemed like it wasn't entirely in keeping with a masculine yukata style, but it wasn't excessively feminine either, leaving him with the appearance of being pretty, but still very clearly a young man. He was the first one to turn and look, then gave a wide smile, "Ah, it's you two. I was wondering when I'd get to meet you..."

"You know who we are?" Fuyuhiko asked, holding an arm over his chest and leaning forward with a scowl. He didn't know what he expected to do with the threat that this guy knew his identity, and he especially didn't know why he took an aggressive rather than defensive stance, but he couldn't go back now.

"Of course he does," The girl spoke up, her voice spiteful, but without any of the pettiness that Hiyoko had exhibited, "Don't you know who _we_ are? Or was the Ultimate Gamer too elitist to read up on his future classmates?"

"I... Didn't even know that was possible," Peko said, taking a step in front of Fuyuhiko with her own, more diplomatic stance, "I certainly would have done so if I was made aware of the opportunity. It doesn't seem like anybody else we've encountered had any idea of our identities, either."

"Ahah, I guess that's why you and I woke up in the same place," The boy noted, to the girl, "Whoever took us here knew that much about us, and left the two of us who actually knew the identities of those who would be joining us, in this hallway, with those instructions..."

"That would make sense," The girl said, then tilted her head as she looked the two of them over, "I'm Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Swordswoman. I woke up here with instructions written on my arm," She lifted it to show the writing, "If you leave this hallway before anyone else has entered, then you will be subjected to a fate worse than death."

"Likewise," The other said, holding his arm to show the same message, "Ah, and I would be Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer. It's so very nice to be acquainted with the both of you. Somehow, I thought that it may have been one of you, to arrive and release us from our trap!"

"I thought it would be Nevermind," Mahiru observed, standing up as she spoke and adjusted the strap of her sword's sheath across her chest, "Ultimate Luck, would have made sense to come across us, wouldn't she?"

"There are two Ultimate Lucky Students here, though," Peko noted, "There's also Ikusaba."

"That's interesting!" Nagito observed with a bit of a laugh, "I've never heard of anybody named Ikusaba, or anything like that! Then again, there were only fourteen students listed for our class online, and isn't it common for Hope's Peak to pull surprises like that? Fourteen, that's two short."

"What were all the other names? Because counting ourselves," Peko gestured to herself and Fuyuhiko, "You are the fifteenth and sixteenth people here. We'd run into twelve others before you."

"You really want us to list it all off?" Mahiru questioned, frowning, "Now that Komaeda and I are allowed to to leave, there isn't anything left to worry about. We could just find a way to gather everybody in one place."

"That's true," Peko said, "A very smart idea, actually."

"Why, thank you!" Mahiru seemed to brighten up for a few moments, "I like to think that I have those pretty often, but it's nice to hear it."

"That raises the question, however, of how we would go about performing such a gathering. Surely, it would be tedious to ask everybody to come along and follow us," Komaeda said.

"It would be," Fuyuhiko said, "It's hard enough to gather people when they want to be gathered, and I can tell you, some of these people do _not_."

"That isn't surprising," Mahiru said, then continued as if she hadn't just been hostile herself when they arrived, "Talented people can be very prickly at times. To many, other people just get in the way of their goals."

"Everyone can get to a better goal with help from other people," Fuyuhiko said, "And that's coming from me, a top quality prickly bastard. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just an idiot."

"I agree. I work in a field of relative solitude, and even so, cooperation is important!" Mahiru said, "A swordswoman is only as effective as her charge isn't reckless, or her teammates utilizing other weaponry know how those weapons behave in conjunction with a sword. And now, in this situation, an Ultimate Student is only effective as long as there are others willing to work together to get to the bottom of this sudden group kidnapping."

"Still, even as we wax poetic about the power of cooperation," Nagito observed, "We don't have any ideas on how to get anybody _else_ to cooperate with us."

"It's a predicament," Fuyuhiko said, "But here's a fair warning, by the way. Right outside of this hallway, in the lobby, there's an annoying guy who'll probably make some shitty comments when we go back there. So there's that."

"Shitty comments?" Mahiru asked, "Oh, you mean like a _normal_ guy. It's surprising to hear an Ultimate would exhibit such behavior, but I suppose that Ultimate Students can still just be men. Boys will be boys, you know? Terrible. Not to say that you are terrible, Kuzuryuu. Or you, Komaeda. However, I've chosen to view you as exceptions to the rule, not disproving it overall. Is that understood?"

"Yeah, that's fair," Fuyuhiko agreed, "I won't betray the trust you're putting in me. Well, I'll try, anyway. I kind of do have a shitty personality, but not like _that_ , you know? I won't stoop that fucking low, in my life."

"Then we shouldn't have any problems!" Mahiru assured him with a slight smile that put dimples in her freckled cheeks. When she wasn't looking down or glaring, she actually looked a little too pure for her talent, "Okay, so, the first step is to go out there, and even though he's terrible, we could probably get that guy you mentioned to come with us-"

"Upupupu!" A sudden, high-pitched voice interrupted, seeming to come from nowhere at all, "Hey everybody! You're all awake and free of any unfortunate circumstances, I see! That means that it's time for a very special message from your host, me, Mister Monokuma! You can just call me Monokuma though, cause I'm that cool teacher who doesn't demand empty titles of respect from his students. Anyway, I have something that I need all of you good little kiddos to do for me! You've got to exit the island you're currently on. No, I don't mean jumping into the sea, that's against the rules anywhere but on beaches designated for swimming! I mean the only way off this island, across the bridge on the north side, toward the central island! Once you're all gathered there, you get to meet me in person!"


	10. Prologue (Monokuma's Announcement)

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Nagito said, looking up to the ceiling.

"Whoever this Monokuma is," Mahiru observed, stepping past Fuyuhiko and Peko toward the door, "It obviously knows a good amount about us, and can observe us. I can only imagine that it made that statement in direct relation to our recent conversation, perhaps to give us a false sense of its helpfulness? I dunno. I'm going, though, even though I don't trust it. Up to you if you'll come along."

"I can't think of anything else to do," Peko said, "And if it wanted to kill us, we'd already be dead, not kidnapped here."

"Good point," Fuyuhiko said, and the two of them started to follow Mahiru, but then he paused and looked back to Nagito, "You coming, Komaeda?"

"You're right that there isn't really anything else to do in this situation," Nagito said, "But somehow, I can't help feeling like if we go to that place, something horrible is going to happen."

"Couldn't something worse happen if we don't cooperate?" Mahiru offered her input, wrapping her hand around the strap of her sheath, "Even I might not be able to defend everybody, if it came to that. If we disobeyed, we could be putting everyone else in jeopardy. If we go there, at least it will be an evil we can face, don't you think?"

"That's fair," Nagito said, striding forward, "And putting faith in my gut feeling would probably not be very smart, anyhow! It isn't like my talent has anything to do with that sort of thing, I'm just good at dancing."

"Fair point," Fuyuhiko said, "Anyway, the southeast end of the island, that's probably down near the farm, right? I think that's where it would be."

"I have no way of telling what direction we're facing, but that's probably correct," Peko agreed, "I think that if it were any other location, we would have noticed. However, I was very distracted by the chickens at the time."

"There are chickens here?" Mahiru asked, seeming to have a similar weakness for the birds as Peko, by her tone.

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko answered, "There's a small farm, with a bunch of chickens and no other animals. We met the Ultimate Animal Breeder there."

"Ah, how was Tsumiki in person?" Nagito asked, "I've heard that she's quite timid."

"The fact that you actually know about the people you haven't met is not about to stop being creepy," Fuyuhiko said, "But what you heard is right, she's very shy. Definitely likes animals better than people. Not that I could really blame her."

"Ah, I apologize! I should have realized that referring back to the knowledge that somehow, only Koizumi and I ended up acquiring before coming here, might not be the best idea," Nagito noted, "Although, doesn't that seem strange? I looked at the website as soon as it was posted, though. Could it be we were kidnapped at different times, and the information hadn't even been posted by the time you came here?"

"That seems possible," Peko said, "It can't be a huge difference, though, or you would have heard of our kidnapping by the time you were kidnapped. I do doubt that the capture of an entire class of Ultimate Students, or even of any two of us, wouldn't make the news."

"That's true," Mahiru said, "There's no way that it would have escaped the news cycle, even within twelve hours. So I suppose that theory is incorrect. Perhaps we did all look at the website, but the rest of you are experiencing some form of memory loss?"

"Nevermind and Ikusaba mentioned something kind of like that," Fuyuhiko remembered, "About not remembering how they got here, so they don't know what else might be misremembered. You'd think at least one of us would recall the moments of our kidnapping, but nobody seems to be aware of that in any way."

"So there definitely is some degree of memory loss," Mahiru noted, then looked to Nagito, "Though, I'm not exactly sure how it was the two of _us_ who escaped that. I don't remember being knocked out or anything either, so it had some impact on me, but..."

"Well, we are both bearers of talents which focus on both the body and the mind," Nagito offered, "Perhaps, it was our sheer willpower from our particular pursuits which left us a little more keen to remembering than our classmates in less spiritual professions?"

"That certainly is... A theory," Mahiru said, "Can't say that I agree with it, but it's a theory!"

"Hey!" Someone else called out, running up toward the group. Well, not exactly running. Speed-walking, and he moved in such a way that honesty just kind of looked like he was gliding over the ground. Probably more intimidating than how he'd look while actually running. Yamaguchi went straight to Peko, "What's going on?"

"Don't know yet," Peko answered, "We're looking for the bridge. We think that it's near the farm. Would you like to come along with us, Yamaguchi?"

"Who's this guy?" Mahiru questioned, raising her eyebrows with a hand on her hip, a bit perplexed by his appearance here, "You weren't on the site..."

"What site?" Yamaguchi questioned, narrowing his eyes right back at her.

"Koizumi," Fuyuhiko stepped in to make introductions again, "This is Yamaguchi, the Ultimate Yakuza. And Yamaguchi, these are Mahiru Koizumi and Nagito Komaeda. They can tell you their own talents, but they have memories of a website listing all their future Hope's Peak classmates. Apparently you weren't listed, though. Neither was Ikusaba, who we ran into earlier. I can see why you would have been left off, since sharing the identity of a yakuza heir is probably a bad idea..."

"But what sort of secret could Ikusaba have?" Peko wondered, "Or, did they want to hide the fact that they somehow had two winners of the student lottery this year?"

"That seems more likely," Yamaguchi noted, "My concealment would be for privacy reasons, but this Ikusaba's would be to hide a mistake made on their part."

"Makes sense!" Nagito observed, "Nevermind probably won it first, given her presence on the site. Ikusaba may have been afterward, if they left the lottery open by accident after a winner was discovered, or something like that! Though, isn't it rude to be making this many theories about other people? I'm sure that the explanation is something much different than anything that any of us could come up with, you know?"

"That's true," Yamaguchi said, "You seem very clever, more clever than your talent would require. That's a bit suspect, you know."

"Ahah, if it were, then you'd be the one to know, wouldn't you?" Nagito joked, "Mister Ultimate Yakuza... You and I both carry on ancient arts of our country. If I am too clever for my talent, don't you think that somebody not unlike you would be the one to make use of that?"

"Fair point," Yamaguchi said, "You'd be in precisely the position to eavesdrop on rival syndicates, or businesses. Secrets play fast and loose at parties, because nobody expects the entertainment to be listening in. Although, my family would certainly be smarter than to fall into such an easy trap."

"Oh, of course. You don't get to be the largest, most infamous syndicate in the country by letting your secrets be stolen by coquettish young dancers," Nagito said.

Fuyuhiko was somehow made deeply uncomfortable by that wording. However, he didn't get the opportunity to voice that discomfort in any manner, because they were coming up on the bridge. The central island, as it was called, stood against the horizon with a large statue of a bear in the center of it. At the base of that statue, several students were already gathered, and the fruit of their collective dread would await them. Something very bad could happen.

Somehow Fuyuhiko knew.

Something very bad would.


	11. Prologue (Monokuma's Arrival)

Upon arriving to the central island, Fuyuhiko observed that different groups of people were starting to interact with each other. Ibuki stood alone, but slightly offset from Teruteru as he spoke with Hajime. Hajime looked especially bored, but not annoyed, which made Fuyuhiko a little bit relieved somehow. Somebody would tolerate that guy, at least. If Teruteru got a friend, then he might leave everybody else alone, after all. That was something to keep in mind. Mikan had somehow been co-opted into the Rocket Punch Market group, as Sonia and Akane fawned over Pom-Pom and Mukuro sat on the floor without any signs of hesitation, nodding off with her legs crossed without regard to the local boys who may have been looking for a show. At least Teruteru was preoccupied. Fuyuhiko looked away as soon as he noticed how she was sitting.

Also preoccupied were Souda and Gundam, speaking with each other. Both appeared to have high energy as they had a conversation about the importance of drinking lots of water, or something equally lame. A nurse and a coach... Those two probably would have ended up getting jobs at Hope's Peak after graduation, had they not been kidnapped to here instead of actually going to school that is. Nekomaru was taking photos of the Monokuma statue, which it seemed that Hiyoko had slightly climbed, sitting on one of the statue's paws with a disgruntled look, as if she hadn't been trying to pose for a photo at all and Nekomaru just started snapping. Fuyuhiko decided, based on the traits he'd observed in the both of them, that was definitely what had happened.

Then of course, his own group. Himself, Peko, Mahiru, Nagito, and Yamaguchi. They were physically furthest from the bridge's location, so they ended up being the last to arrive. With their arrival, there was a distinct noise something that Fuyuhiko had two methods of describing. One was that it was a distinctive "shhk, thunk". The other was that it was absolutely the sound that played when entering a boss fight or a puzzle and having all escape routes sealed off until the obstacle was completed, in a game. He glanced at Peko, and the look in her eyes proved to him that she heard it in the exact same manner that he did.

"Hey hey! Get off'a my statue!" The same voice as earlier called out, and something popped out of the bear statue's head, doing a flip in the air then landing on the sand in what seemed to be the exact center of the island, within easy sight of everybody present. That something was another bear, like the statue, but much smaller, and not made of stone. Half black, half white, a red eye and a sickening smile. It was a creature of nightmares, and nobody here even knew what sort of nightmares that bear could legitimately produce yet, "You bastards really don't know what you're doing here, huh?"

"Of course we don't," Hajime said, turning to stare at it. Fuyuhiko observed that with the eyeliner, that stare was especially unsettling. And if Hajime stared at him like that, paired with the words he said, he would certainly feel like an idiot, and he hoped that bear would too, "You haven't told us shit."

"Well, I'm about to, so shut your mouth!" The bear scolded him, "I told you over the PA, I'm Monokuma! And I am the extent of adult supervision for you brats here on your amazing, wonderful, Killing Game, tropical vacation field trip!"

"Wait," Hiyoko spoke from where she still sat on the statue, glaring, "What the fuck did you just say? Killing Game? What the Hell is that supposed to mean?"

"These islands, as I'm sure you've already discovered, are equipped with so many great amenities!" Monokuma continued as if Hiyoko hadn't said anything at all, "All sorts of fun things to do, and you should also find it easy to keep comfortable! Most buildings have got air conditioning, the market and the restaurant are fully stocked up, not to mention you all get your own amazing hotel rooms, with full baths, comfy beds, and even televisions! We can't get cable or satellite out here though, so you have DVD players! A small collection of DVDs can be found at the Rocket Punch Market, and a video store should be opening up eventually. Passage to other islands with more amenities will become available as prizes in the Killing Game!"

"You just said it again, asswipe. What the Hell is a Killing Game?" Hiyoko prodded.

"Now, now, Hiyoko! Is that any way to talk to an adult? If you wanna ask me a question, you gotta use your nice girl words? Now, what do you say?" Monokuma teased.

"Do not condescend to the gremlin!" Nekomaru stepped to her defense, standing between her and Monokuma, "In this situation, demanding answers is perfectly normal! But should you still demand manners, I will serve as her proxy! Please, Monokuma, could you explain to us this Killing Game?"

"Since you asked nicely, I sure can!" Monokuma exclaimed, "The Killing Game is the one part of this vacation not designed to make you happy and comfortable. After all, you have to put in a little bit of work if you want to enjoy yourselves! If you win the game, you even get to go home! How do I win, Mister Monokuma? Well, isn't it obvious? You have to get away with _murder_! Kill somebody, and make it through the trial without being caught, and you'll get to go back to your normal life. Fail to get away with it, though, and you'll be executed! Now, you might wonder, what's to keep you from just making an agreement to get half of you sent home, at the expense of sacrificing the other half? Simple. If you fail to find the culprit, you're the ones who will be executed! Condemning your classmate is the only way to guarantee your own survival! Isn't that just a blast? And for every execution you carry out against your murdering pals, I'll add another bridge, to all new and wonderful amenities! It's such a quandary! The prisoner's dilemma! The AB game! The Chinese room! Wait, that's a totally different thing. Anyway, happy kill-"

"You're not getting away from us that easily!" Akane exclaimed, jumping forward to stand face-to-face with the bear, "I have knives and I know how to use them! Did you really think we wouldn't fight back?"

"How did you get knives so fast? Anyway," Monokuma turned away from her, nonchalant as it waved one paw, "That'll sure help you out in the game! But there are some rules. If you attack me, you'll be immediately murdered by the fury of a thousand automatic rifles pulled straight outta my ass. As the adult here, I have those powers. All adults can do stuff like that."

"No they cannot!" Gundam called out, "Even I, a being of chaos placed upon this Earth to facilitate the improvement of the human race so that they can prepare for the coming Ragnarok, cannot pull even one single automatic rifle from my ass!"

"I really don't think it was speaking literally..." Sonia noted with a nervous laugh, "Anyway... It doesn't matter. You're all Ultimate Students, after all! I have complete faith that you will not commit such horrid acts of turning on each other in such a way! A Killing Game is a moot point among people so elevated! These Ultimate Students are the humans who are already prepared to combat Ragnarok!"

"Please don't tell me she's going to go along with it..." Fuyuhiko groaned to himself.

"She makes a good point, though," Peko observed.

"Of course," Monokuma said, "Under normal circumstances, only bad people would participate in a Killing Game! It'd be hard to find sixteen bad people in the regular population, let alone sixteen bad people with Ultimate Talents! That's why, I'll be prepared community chests for you! Wildcards! Something has happened pop-up windows on your favorite virtual pet website! That's right, you'll be subjected throughout the game to a Monokuma-curated collection of motives handcrafted especially to spur you into action! I'll give you some time first, though. Maybe one of you will be motivated enough without me. Ciao! The rest of the rules will be posted on the walls in your hotel rooms!"


	12. Prologue (Leadership)

Monokuma was gone, and the central island was left full of confused teenagers.

"What... What the Hell sort of motives could convince us to kill each other?" Akane questioned, "There's no way!"

"Don't say that," Yamaguchi said, "It's perfectly reasonable that the right motivation could prompt us to turn on each other. You're only being naive if you believe otherwise. It isn't as if everybody here even has qualms with killing to begin with."

"Wait, you don't?" Sonia questioned, furrowing her brow as she looked at Yamaguchi.

"I'm the Ultimate Yakuza," Yamaguchi explained, "And this is Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Swordswoman. I do not know about anyone else, but I am certain that neither of us are the least bit squeamish when it comes to death and dying. Not to say that I have any reason to kill any of you, but it isn't as if the right motive couldn't convince me. Terrible, but true."

"Are you for real?" Sonia asked again, curling her lip back in some amount of disdain.

"Hey, Ibuki thinks the big man is right," Ibuki piped up, holding one hand to the top of her head, "Ibuki wouldn't kill anybody, no way! But you know, it's stupid to think nobody will! We don't know each other at all yet. I bet there are lots of real screwed up motives that would make lots of us do bad things!"

"Nonetheless..." Gundam said, "Admitting that fact is a sign of spiritual weakness! To stand against the idea, that is strength, that is promising to each other that we will combine our powers to ensure such things could never come to pass!"

"That's not something that can be ensured," Hiyoko said, though it wasn't confrontational. She sounded more... Defeated, "Promises mean nothing when killing is on the line. Do you think that if you're going to betray somebody by murdering them, you'll be stopped by the idea of betraying the promise you made not to kill somebody? A promise is a shitty, stupid thing when you're trying to promise not to commit some other act of betrayal! Breaking a promise is nothing compared to that, so stop acting like we should all hold hands and say we'll be best friends and live forever, you chuuni dirtbag!"

"I did not say anything about living forever," Gundam mumbled, "That's simply foolish. Even Gods will eventually die, so what hope could any human have of living eternally?"

"Isn't this the, uh..." Souda spoke up, "Type of problem that we should worry about when it actually becomes relevant? No motives have been handed out yet, and I really don't think that anybody here has even got their bearings enough to want to get off this island at the expense of killing everybody else. We should stop worrying about it for now, deal with it later."

"Postponing the problem doesn't solve it," Hajime said, rolling his eyes as he picked at the dirt under one fingernail, "But talking about it in circles doesn't help anybody either. We need to find a compromise, y'know? A happy medium?"

"What, a cheerful psychic?" Hiyoko asked with a smirk.

"You know what I meant, stop being annoying," Hajime shut her down without even looking in her direction, then put a hand on his hip, "Basically, we need to stop dwelling on this. At the same time, each one of us should consider all the others to be untrustworthy. If your standard of trust for somebody exists on a scale, I would say to immediately move that scale down two notches, as we have no way of knowing each other's intentions in such a situation. With that, however, we are still not enemies. If nothing else, we would be allies against Monokuma. Does anybody here have leadership experience?"

"Yamaguchi and I both have talents which relate to leadership skills," Peko spoke up, "However, I believe that in this situation, in which there is a clear enemy, Yamaguchi would be more suited to the position. I lead through diplomacy. As the Ultimate Yakuza, Yamaguchi knows how to lead in the throes of war."

"Now we're at _war_ with the bear...?" Mikan asked to herself, she was just barely nearby enough for Fuyuhiko to catch it.

"I would gladly step to this challenge," Yamaguchi said, "But a leader is only as good as those he leads. I need to know if all of you will put in me the bare minimum of trust to allow me to hold the title of leader. I would not abuse my power, I would merely establish loose schedules allowing us to meet as a group each day, keep ourselves safe, and deny that bear what it so clearly wants from us. I will not assign any individuals to locations at set times, or any other actions which would let me use my position to commit or enable a murder."

"I mean, I'm the one who called for a leader, so obviously I agree," Hajime said.

"Even though we didn't exactly get off on the right foot," Souda said, "I know you'd be capable of this, so, sure!"

Everybody else, in turn, agreed that Yamaguchi could receive the title of leader, and that was sorted out. With that done, Yamaguchi spoke up again, "At six this evening, meet in the hotel restaurant. By then, I should have the simple schedule worked out. If anybody else has any ideas about what should be done to improve safety and quality of life on this island, please feel free to come forward with those ideas at the meeting. Thank you for your time, and I'll see you then. Get settled in, get to know each other, whatever you would like to do."

And everybody dispersed.

Hiyoko stayed on the paw of the statue, but most people proceeded to cross the bridge back to the first island. The final group to arrive didn't leave in any manner, though, the five of them sticking around. With Hiyoko still there was well, that meant ten people crossed the bridge back. Fuyuhiko observed them as much as he could. Mukuro made a beeline for the hotel, probably to take a nap, in spite of the fact they'd all just woken from being passed out quite recently. Fuyuhiko wasn't tired at all. Maybe Mukuro was narcoleptic? That would make sense with her talent, actually. She probably exhibited good fortune through falling asleep at especially inopportune times, and living.

"So," Mahiru said, but not to anybody in the group. She'd approached Hiyoko, "You're the Ultimate Mechanic, yes? I know we all agreed to drop the topic of the Killing Game, but I had a thought of my own. It may be possible, wouldn't it, to find some other way to escape this island, without playing Monokuma's game?"


	13. Daily Life: Day One (Allegiance)

"What, are you asking me to build something to get us away from here? Those planes couldn't possibly fly again, even if I managed to fix one it's not like we have jet fuel," Hiyoko said, crossing her arms where she sat, "It's useless to try and entertain shitty ideas like that! If we're gonna die, we're gonna die."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Mahiru asked, then reached out and grabbed both of Hiyoko's shoulders, "Don't you worry about it, Saionji! I have already promised to protect my friends over there, and I can do the same for you! There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of."

"No way! I ain't scared, you class-A bitch!" Hiyoko snapped, but didn't make any move to shake Mahiru's hands from her shoulders, "Anyway, even if I was, it's not like I'd be scared for my own life... It's way scarier to have to watch people die around you, than to get killed!"

"I don't know if there's much to be done about that," Mahiru admitted, looking Hiyoko in the eyes, "But, you know. Maybe the planes couldn't possibly fly. The parts could be repurposed though, right? What about a boat?"

"Hmm," Hiyoko looked down at her own knees, "A boat, huh? Something like that, we could burn wood to make charcoal to power it, if we could get ahold of enough of it. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of that on this island!"

"That's exactly what I thought," Mahiru said, then glanced back to the others, "What do you all think of that idea?"

"It seems intelligent," Komaeda noted, "If there's any possibility it could work, then we're obligated to give it a shot, aren't we? Assuming that Saionji is willing, of course."

"I don't have anything better to do, so I guess I may as well," Hiyoko said, "But if I'm gonna be working on this out in the tropical heat for your sakes, you little shits better be helping me out! Suffer with me or I won't suffer at all!"

"We can definitely keep you company," Fuyuhiko teased.

"That's not what I meant!" Hiyoko hissed, "I wouldn't enjoy your company at all! This is just quid pro quo, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Saionji," Peko joked as well, then turned to Yamaguchi again, "Don't let us keep you, Yamaguchi. If you want to go work on your schedule, you're perfectly free to go."

"Thank you," Yamaguchi said with a short nod, "I will assist in Saionji's efforts as well, though, so it's good that I stuck around this long. I'll be seeing you later."

With that, Yamaguchi left, and Komaeda turned to Hiyoko again, "Well, I'll take first shift working on it with you! I haven't got anything else to do."

"I'll go as well," Peko said, dipping her head a bit, then looked to Fuyuhiko, "In spite of our history together, it _is_ important that we also learn to socialize independently, right? We can't just spend all of our time together."

"Yeah, you're right," Fuyuhiko said, "All teams need to split up sometimes."

"I'll see you later too, then," Peko said, and the three who were going to work on the boat went out to the airport together, leaving Fuyuhiko and Mahiru alone on the central island.

"So," Mahiru said, stepping over to Fuyuhiko, "You're the Ultimate Gamer, hm? I can only assume that's the history Pekoyama was mentioning, that you met online previously."

"That's true," Fuyuhiko said with a nod, "We were friends before we came here. I was surprised to find out she'd been the Ultimate Princess all along, she never mentioned anything like that to me."

"Wow," Mahiru said, "If I was a princess, I would probably mention it to everybody possible! That would seriously jeopardize my safety but I don't think I'd be able to help myself."

"Really? I didn't take you for the type to dream about being royalty," Fuyuhiko said.

"Heh, don't you know that every little girl wants to be a princess? I grew up mastering the blade, swordsmanship was basically just my entire childhood. Watching movies about princesses were some of the only fun things I did as a kid!' Mahiru chuckled a bit, scratching at her cheek, "Not to say that learning to use a sword isn't super fun, also, but I got kind of bored when it was my whole life..."

"I guess that makes sense," Fuyuhiko admitted, "Have you ever played a video game? If we can find any here, you might wanna try one out. They're fun, and really good for letting off stress too. If you never got a chance to really play around as a kid, video games are kind of an acceptable way to play when you're older."

"Hm, you're right!' Mahiru agreed, putting her hands on her hips, "If you find any games, you had better let everyone know! I'm sure that there are lots of us here who haven't or have played them before and would really appreciate the opportunity. I think it's good that we're working together, you know. Yamaguchi and Pekoyama can take charge, I can protect people, you can bring people together with your talent... And of course, Saionji can build a boat."

"What about Komaeda?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"He's... Komaeda," Mahiru shrugged, "I guess his talent could also bring people together? I dunno. I wouldn't exactly have picked him for the dream team, but we just sort of ended up in this allegiance by chance."

"Do you trust him?" Fuyuhiko asked.

Mahiru nodded, "Yeah, I do. I may not know what he's really good for, but he's trustworthy! I know that Hinata said we shouldn't trust people, but I can tell these things. Everyone in our group, I trust. Everybody else? Not so much. I'm glad I got the opportunity to speak with Saionji before anybody else got her on their side."

"On their side? Koizumi, we aren't against each other here," Fuyuhiko said.

"Well, yeah," Mahiru said, "I just mean, getting Saionji to let me protect her... I can't protect everybody, and I've already decided the group I'll be protecting. Count yourself lucky that you're among them. I had theories on who I'd defend at Hope's Peak, when I was reading the website before going there, but coming here, in this situation... Really solidified it."

"Don't you think you should get to know a few more of the others before writing them off completely?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"No, not really," Mahiru said, starting to walk away, "I will get to know them. But they're already written off. I can only protect so many people, and I already made my decision of who's worthy."


	14. Daily Life: Day One (Back to the Market)

Fuyuhiko was left alone on the central island, and he wasn't about to stay that way for very long. He walked back over the bridge as soon as Mahiru was gone from view, and had a look around. He figured that Mikan would have gone back to the farm, and he knew who was at the airport. He decided to see, then, who would be at the Rocket Punch Market now. Akane and Sonia probably wouldn't have gone back there, and he knew that Mukuro hadn't.

When he arrived there, his theory turned out to be correct. Souda and Ibuki turned out to be the ones inside, as Fuyuhiko looked around at them. Souda was gathering up first aid supplies, which made sense. Ibuki, meanwhile, had her arms full of several flavors of energy drink. Fuyuhiko decided to try talking to her first, approaching carefully to avoid startling her, "Hey, Mioda. What's all this?"

"Energy drinks!" Ibuki answered with a silly grin and no hesitation.

"Do you really need those?" Fuyuhiko questioned, "I mean, you seem to have plenty of natural energy."

"Huh? Well, maybe I do, but energy drinks are tasty, they're so delicious!" Ibuki protested, "I don't even feel the impact of caffeine, I just love the way they taste so I'm really glad they're here! This market is just like a normal convenience store!"

"Yeah, I think that was kind of the point," Fuyuhiko said, crossing his arms, "Don't drink too many of those, okay? Yamaguchi's probably going to give us some sort of curfew."

"There's already kind of a curfew in place," Souda spoke up, "I checked out my room already and saw the rest of the rules! The market and the restaurant close at ten each night, we'll get in trouble for going there. They open again at six in the morning. Technically, there's nothing against being out that late, but with both places to get food closed, what's the point?"

"I kind of just meant that if there's a curfew for when we should be sleeping, it would be nice if Mioda was actually able to _fall_ asleep at that time, and not stay up all night because she likes the taste of energy drinks," Fuyuhiko griped.

"Ibuki will be careful!" Ibuki promised, somehow managing to keep all of the cans in her arms as she flashed Fuyuhiko a thumbs-up.

"Do you want a bag for those, Mioda?" Souda asked, already going over to the counter to collect a plastic bag for Ibuki's sake. Before she was even able to answer him, he was at her side with a bag held open. Ibuki dumped the cans in immediately, and Souda almost dropped the bag, "Awh! Damn, those are way heavier than I expected them to be!"

"Heheh," Ibuki giggled, "I'm stronger than you!"

"That's not surprising, you have an athletic Ultimate Talent. I'm just the Ultimate Nurse," Souda observed, "Please take this bag back."

Ibuki took the bag back with another laugh, "Thanks for the bag! What are you getting there?"

"First aid supplies," Souda said, "This is the only place I could find any, and it doesn't exactly have enough space to work as an infirmary, so I'm trying to move some over to the hotel lobby so that it's more central and useful to everybody."

"Ooh! That's a good idea!" Ibuki said, "Kazuichi, if Ibuki hurts herself doing dumb gymnastics on the sand or the hard wooden floors, will you help?"

"Of course, that's my job," Souda said, "Please try not to get too hurt, though. These supplies are really basic."

"That's fair," Ibuki said.

"Yeah, maybe find a better place to practice than either of those terrains?" Fuyuhiko offered, "There's some grass over near the farm. I guess that's not ideal, but it's softer than wood and sturdier than sand."

"Kuzuryuu is so smart!" Ibuki observed.

"Thank you," Fuyuhiko said, "But. it's not that much. You probably could have figured it out on your own."

"Yeah, probably," Ibuki admitted, "But not until after spraining an ankle trying to do cartwheels in the sand! You saved Ibuki a whole lot of pain!"

"Sprained ankles are quite painful," Souda added in, "Most people don't realize it, but the general scale of pain for large-scale injuries like that would be dislocation, then breaks, then sprains. Those are the worst!" He smirked and put his arms behind his head, bag of first aid items tapping against his back, "I have all sorts of fun facts like that! Do you guys think they'd impress a cute girl?"

"Ibuki's cute and impressed!" Ibuki answered, "But, probably, Ibuki's not who you're thinking of, right? There's other cute girls here... Cute guys too... What do you think of Yamaguchi, huh? Doesn't he just look so huggable?"

"I guess so?" Souda said with a nervous chuckle, "He's more scary than cute, though... Hey, Kuzuryuu. What sort of girls are your type?"

"I don't know that I have a type," Fuyuhiko said, "I mean, that's not really the sort of thing I think about. I never got into waifu culture or anything like that."

"That's lame," Ibuki said, glaring at him, "Ibuki declares, Fuyuhiko totally has a type and just doesn't want to tell us!"

"You're wrong," Fuyuhiko said, rolling his eyes, "I don't even understand the concept of having a type. I guess if you always end up crushing on the same types of people, sure, but romance hasn't even been a thought of mine in years. I'm married to the game."

"Well, shit! I'll tell you my type, though," Souda said, looking up at the ceiling, "I guess I like girls who aren't afraid to speak their mind, or embarrass themselves in public. So many girls are so shy, but I think the opposite is pretty appealing! As for what she looks like, well, as long as she's cute! I probably couldn't be into Tsumiki since she's so, you know, like that. But most of the other girls here are nice. Not like I'm really looking for anything serious in a situation like this."

"Implying you're looking for something casual?" Ibuki prodded, then looked to Fuyuhiko again, "Ibuki's type is... Huggable! I don't need somebody who can keep up with me, I want someone who I can be comfy with after a long, hard day! So I guess so far, that'd be Yamaguchi, or Monokuma... Gross! Not like Ibuki would wanna date a robot bear! But doesn't it look so snuggly?"

"That's fair," Fuyuhiko said, "It does look... Snuggly. I guess if I did have to pick a type, it would just be somebody who's passionate about what they do. So my type's Ultimates, I guess."

"What a dog!" Ibuki teased, "Does that mean you've got a crush on everybody here? Even Ibuki? But you don't look snuggly at all! Even Kazuichi? But you are obviously too self-conscious for him!"

"Shut up," Fuyuhiko griped, "I said if I _had_ to pick a type. I don't have a crush on anybody."

"Whatever you say, man," Souda chuckled, "Anyway, I should go get this shit set up in the lobby... Seeya round!"

"Ibuki thinks Kazuichi is secretly kind of a pervert," Ibuki stage-whispered to Fuyuhiko once Souda was gone, "But that's okay, cause he's not like Hanamura! Speaking of, Ibuki wonders where he ended up... What sort of stuff does a reserve student like to do??"

"I don't know," Fuyuhiko said, rolling his eyes, "Go do cartwheels by the farm or something with your energy drinks, I'm going back to the beach."


	15. Daily Life: Day One (Sonia)

When Fuyuhiko got back to the beach, including the small cabins he and Peko had awoken in, he noted that there were a few people down by the water. Sonia was sitting just out of reach of the gentle waves, and Hajime was lounging in the shade of one of the cabins' porches, while Teruteru leaned on that porch's railing, probably continuing whatever conversation they'd been having on the central island before Monokuma showed up.

Fuyuhiko decided to try his luck with Sonia, and wandered over to where she sat, sitting down beside her with a simple greeting, "Hey, Nevermind. You like the beach?"

"Yeah," Sonia said, then turned to him with a soft smile, "I don't need to be respected by somebody with an Ultimate Talent, though! Please, feel free to just call me Sonia. Calling me by my last name implies that you see me as something other than an everyday plebeian, does it not?"

"I don't know what to say to that," Fuyuhiko said.

"Heheh," Sonia laughed a little, and it sounded like a bell as she looked out across the ocean, "You know, I wonder where we really are. Like if we could swim straight away from here and keep on going, where would we end up? I guess it's silly of me to say, since we were kidnapped and all, but I kind of like this. I never got to travel much before. It's nice and tropical here, even if we're not allowed to swim..."

"Monokuma said that we'd unlock a swimming beach if we participated in the Killing Game," Fuyuhiko said.

"I don't need to go swimming _that_ badly," Sonia said, tilting her head to the side, "I wonder, though... What's the reason for something like the Killing Game anyway?"

"Obviously, whoever's behind this is just sick," Fuyuhiko mumbled, "Only a real sadist would encourage us to do something like this, instead of just killing us outright."

"Don't you think it could be the opposite, though?" Sonia asked, "Somebody who's a real coward, who wants us dead but can't get up the stomach to do it personally! So, they get us to do their dirty work instead, by turning us against each other. I guess if it was that kind of situation, though... Then that means the game won't end until we're all dead, huh?"

"It can't be that," Fuyuhiko said, "If they have the ability to execute all the rest of us in the case that somebody gets away with murder, then they could have just done that from the start. It has to be somebody who just really wants us to suffer."

"People like that are usually serial killers, though!" Sonia said, pressing her hands together, "I watch a lot of True Crime television, though, and this doesn't seem like anything that a serial killer would even have the resources to do, even if they wanted to... Usually, somebody who'd be sadistic enough to put people in a Killing Game would rather torture them with their own hands. It honestly seems like it would be a totally different type of person. One that the world's never even seen before."

"How would you figure that sort of person would be?" Fuyuhiko asked, staring out at the ocean to see the sun glinting off the waves. He didn't need to be told twice that swimming at this beach wasn't allowed. It didn't seem at all inviting, like if anybody tried to swim the ocean itself would just swallow them up, never to be seen again. Like the sea itself was setting the atmosphere for what Sonia was about to say.

"Somebody who doesn't have any desire to cause pain or suffering directly. But a person that finds the suffering of others incredibly entertaining. It has nothing to do with personal gratification, like most sadists. Somebody who'd orchestrate a Killing Game probably wouldn't even care if someone else had the idea first, as long as they got to watch it. It's a form of entertainment utterly devoid of a moral compass, like..." Sonia thought for a minute, "I'm not good at anything, I'm not smart, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I just think that whoever did this would just have to be somebody who was bored of everything good and moral the world had to offer. And that's it."

"Damn," Fuyuhiko said, "That's... Worse than what I thought."

"Don't assume that I'm right," Sonia said, turning to him with a sheepish smile as she tucked her hair back behind her ear, "I'm just speaking from what I know from reading about criminals! I'm not an expert in anything at all! But, this sort of thing just isn't the work of a real serial killer..."

"Are you saying," Fuyuhiko mumbled, "Somebody who just got too bored of everything normal, that would have to be somebody smart enough and talented enough to feel like no pursuit could be a real challenge anymore. That sounds like you're implying the person behind this would be an Ultimate."

Sonia shrugged, "You said it, not me. But, you know. That would be a perfect storm, wouldn't it? Somebody with an Ultimate Talent, and no moral compass, and the means to kidnap all of us for this purpose?"

"It would have to be a perfect storm, yeah," Fuyuhiko said, "Like a record-setting speedrun..."

"I don't know what that means," Sonia said, then stood up, but didn't move from her location, "But, don't you think... A perfect storm to that extent? It would be just my _luck_ to get caught up in something like that."

"Your luck?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"There's one big difference between me and Ikusaba, you know. Her Ultimate Luck is like this subtle thing, she always has pretty good luck. Mine's really drastic though, truly Ultimate, in the most garbage way possible..." Sonia sighed through her words, "I have these gigantic, sweeping lucky moments. And then I have equally Ultimate bad luck. So, of course I would end up winning the Hope's Peak Lottery... If it brought me to a Killing Game."

"Ikusaba's here in this Killing Game too, though," Fuyuhiko said, "If your theory was true, wouldn't her good luck keep her out of this?"

"I dunno," Sonia said, "But, I do know how my luck works. Maybe if I wasn't involved, it would be something more simple than a game. Maybe you would just be killed normally, without any of this. It would be better that way... Maybe if I died first, then all the rest of you would be okay!"

"Saying shit like that doesn't help anybody," Fuyuhiko said, also standing up, "You're really giving your fucking luck too much credit. Doesn't matter if it did, anyway. We're all here now, we're all stuck in this thing, and it's not about to change either. As much as you might want to throw yourself a pity party and say that we're more important than you? It's so fucking pointless. Find something good to do with your time."

And before Sonia could say anything else, Fuyuhiko wandered off towards the boys on the porch, making his best attempt to avoid the confrontation that he'd accidentally prompted.


	16. Daily Life: Day One (Porch Boys)

Fuyuhiko was a little bit loathe to willingly approach Teruteru, but he was more loathe to deal with the can of worms he'd opened with Sonia. He really was doing a great job, burning bridges here on day one, wasn't he? Not that he expected Sonia would hold what he said against him, in the end. She didn't have even half the self-esteem she'd need to stay mad at him for the verbal dressing-down he gave her.

Though, Fuyuhiko did have to wonder one thing about her. She was optimistic and positive in general, an upbeat girl. That made it especially jarring when she suddenly shifted to putting so much less value on her own life than that of everyone around her. Was that a trait she always exhibited, or something she developed immediately upon being around Ultimates? He could honestly believe it either way. It wasn't that he'd known her long enough to give a shit, but anyone could acknowledge that type of outlook was especially harmful in a crisis situation like this one.

He didn't have to worry about that any longer, though, because now he had to deal with a completely different type of person. He kind of felt like if anybody should be feeling inadequate compared to the others here, it would be Teruteru. After all, he was titled for being the best of the best... In the course made for non-ultimates. Not that Fuyuhiko would actually hold that against him, but by comparison, Sonia was definitely more of an Ultimate Student.

"Kuzuryuu," Hajime was the one to greet him, though, "I see you've lost your groupie..."

"Hinata, really?" Teruteru chimed in, "If anything, he's the groupie! Didn't you see what an absolute Goddess her Highness is?"

"That's a lotta ness-es," Hajime observed without turning away from Fuyuhiko, "Anyway, whatcha up to?"

"Nothing, really," Fuyuhiko said, "Pekoyama and Komaeda are helping Saionji with something now, so I've just been kind of wandering around and seeing what other people are doing."

Hajime nodded, "That's fair. I'm just hanging out here because I didn't want to go inside or anything, but I also wanted to be in the shade, given I am dressed in far too many dark-colored layers for this weather. Oh, and this guy tagged along for some reason."

"Because I was ensorcelled by your stylish androgyny!" Teruteru said without hesitation.

"Yeah, for that reason, I guess," Hajime said with a dismissive wave, "Why don't you get me a lemonade, or something?"

"I will get you the best lemonade!" Teruteru promised, then dashed off on his stubby little legs.

Fuyuhiko watched him go, then turned back to Hajime, "Are, you really gonna drink what he brings you?"

Hajime shrugged, "I may as well. Why not?"

"Because he's a creep?" Fuyuhiko prodded, "I mean, assuming that what he gets you is actually lemonade, there's still..."

Hajime snapped his fingers once, then spoke after a pause, "That was the sound of you, making snap judgments about people you don't know yet. Sure, he's a creep. Not enough of a creep to cause me any trouble, though. He's the kind of creep who won't do anything illicit if he still thinks he has a legitimate chance. That way he gets to brag about being a casanova, not just about getting some."

"Sounds kind of like you have experience with multiple kinds of creep," Fuyuhiko said, furrowing his brow.

"Of course I do," Hajime chuckled, "I'm a rock star, you know! I've had to work underneath or alongside all varieties of creep, not to mention, my fair share of idiot groupies. It's a real pain, but you get used to it eventually... Like how women in your field must get used to the constant harassment, right?"

"It's true but you shouldn't say it," Fuyuhiko complained.

"Tch. I'll say whatever I want to," Hajime said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever," Fuyuhiko groaned, "I gotta admit, though. You got a handle on the situation back on the central island pretty well. So I guess I have to give you kudos for that."

"You don't have to do anything," Hajime said, "But, thanks. It wasn't hard or anything. I just needed to keep their attention for what, two minutes? Anybody could have done it, I just happened to be the one who did. If you're gonna give somebody kudos, do it for something that actually fucking matters, okay?"

"You're right," Fuyuhiko deferred, rather than letting Hajime's demeanor make him prickly himself. If he was to be honest, dealing with this snark was much easier than handling Sonia anyway, "So, I guess I haven't seen you do anything praiseworthy yet. Sorry."

"That's very fair," Hajime said, "I'll earn your respect, though. My own way."

"I don't doubt that," Fuyuhiko said, then turned to look as Teruteru returned, holding two bottles of lemonade that seemed to have come from the Rocket Punch Market, "Hey, Hanamura."

"I figured I'd grab you a lemonade too, Kuzuryuu," Teruteru offered, holding one out towards Fuyuhiko, "I figured you'd be pretty hot in that getup. And I do mean that with a double meaning!"

Fuyuhiko didn't say anything as he took the lemonade, and in spite of Hajime's words, he checked that the tamper-evident indicator on the cap popped up when he opened it. It did, so he felt safe taking a swig. At least he was able to be discreet about it.

"Thanks, Hanamura," Hajime said as he took his own lemonade from Teruteru, "Did you get yourself anything?"

"Oh yeah," Teruteru said, then pulled a juice pouch from his back pocket, "I picked out something I could carry with both bottles. Ah, Kuzuryuu, sorry if you don't like lemonade, but it is the most refreshing thing, so..."

"Okay," Fuyuhiko admitted, "You did good, okay, Hanamura? Thanks for the lemonade, or whatever. You're right. It's refreshing."

"Hurray!" Teruteru said, then returned to his earlier position of leaning against the railing, "Anyway, before you showed up, Hinata and I were talking about this cool shrine near where I used to live, cause it turns out he'd visited it before-"

"Sounds like a boring conversation," Fuyuhiko said, leaning against the railing himself but on the other side of the porch stairs, "But I'm glad you found something to talk about, I guess."

"You seem difficult to talk to, Kuzuryuu," Hajime observed, "But, I guess I should have expected that much. Gamers and Ultimates are both already known for hyper-focusing, so it's no surprise you can't hold a conversation about anything else!"

"I can too!" Fuyuhiko protested.

"Okay, so try it," Hajime prompted.

"I can't on command, jeeze!" Fuyuhiko complained, then turned and walked away once more instead of properly resolving his social situations.

A consequence of the ability to simply disconnect from an unpleasant conversation during a match and- he was doing it again. Maybe Hajime was right. Not like Fuyuhiko would ever admit to that.


	17. Daily Life: Day One (Akane)

Fuyuhiko checked the time, then decided that he may as well head over to the restaurant. It was early for the meeting, sure, but he didn't exactly have anything to do, especially since he had just walked out of two different conversations in a row. He figured that Hajime might actually hold that against him, but it wasn't like he really cared what anybody here thought of him.

Upon arriving to the restaurant, he noticed that Akane was back in the kitchen part. That wasn't surprising. He poked his head back there, "Hey, you mind a distraction?"

"Not at all!" Akane exclaimed, "Yeah, come on in! I like being able to chat with people while I cook, but Nevermind wanted to go sit on the beach, and Ikusaba wanted to take a nap. I didn't really feel confident enough to ask anyone else to come hang out with me... So it's really great that you showed up!"

"Cool," Fuyuhiko said as he wandered in, "So, what are you cooking? You know there's already food available, right?"

"Yeah," Akane said, "But, like... I wanna make a good first impression on everybody! There's no better way for me to do that than to cook a really nice meal everyone will like! I'm making katsudon! That's a nice Japanese comfort meal that everybody will like, I'm sure of it!"

"I can't think of anybody who doesn't like katsudon, you're right," Fuyuhiko said, "But, there is Tsumiki... I don't know, she might be vegetarian or something?"

"Obviously I thought of that!" Akane said, "When I went pro, I did catering gigs, not restaurant work. I know how important it is to have alternatives for dietary restrictions! And in catering, you have to make that as broad as possible. For example, you make a vegan dish, and that also covers vegetarians and people who are lactose intolerant! I'm making like, ten vegan katsudons, and thirty normal ones. Leftovers will always get eaten, plus, I know I'll want my own seconds! Maybe even thirds!"

"You really did think of everything," Fuyuhiko observed, "I guess you're really smart, in the kitchen."

"Hey! I'm totally smart, and stuff, all the time!" Akane complained, then started laughing, "Yeah, right! I know, I'm kind of a mess if I'm not cooking. That's okay though, right? At least I'm good at one thing! I'd really hate myself if I was the way I am, but I didn't even have an Ultimate Talent!"

"You've got too much energy to get away without doing something," Fuyuhiko said, "You'd have to end up good at something, just because you'd probably be really bored otherwise."

"That's true!" Akane said, still laughing under her words, "I guess it was silly for me to think about if I'd hate myself without a talent, when it's really just a part of my personality."

"Mhm," Fuyuhiko said, "All you idiots here keep putting yourselves down for the dumbest shit. You've just got to stop."

"Wait, really?" Akane asked, "Who else is...?"

"Nevermind, mostly," Fuyuhiko said, "She keeps going on about how we're all superior to her because we have actual talents and she 'just has luck'. I think that's fucking obnoxious."

"I guess that one way to get people to have better self-esteem is to yell at them for getting down on themselves," Akane admitted, "I wouldn't expected that of her, though. I was mostly making fun of myself as a joke!"

"Well, she's legitimately thinking that way," Fuyuhiko said, "She said some shit about thinking it'd be best if she died, and maybe then the Killing Game would stop, because it's her Ultimate Bad Luck that's causing it to be such a weird situation. Dumb, right?"

"Even I can say, yeah, that is pretty dumb," Akane said.

"Anyway, I think I talked some sense into her," Fuyuhiko said, "I say I think, because I pretty much just yelled at her about it then walked away, so I don't know if I got through to her or anything."

"That's kind of dumb on your own part," Akane said.

"Look, I'm not good with confrontation. I'm used to being able to yell at somebody then immediately leave and never speak to them again," Fuyuhiko said, "I admit, it's not a very good personal trait to have. I guess I'll work on it."

"Don't guess, you _will_ work on it! And I'll help you!" Akane said, letting go of her spatula to turn and grip both of Fuyuhiko's shoulders, "Tomorrow! You and me, we'll have practice arguments!"

"Practice arguments?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Yeah, as in," Akane said, "I'll lock us in a room so you can't escape and then you'll learn how to actually deal with a confrontation, but we'll do it as friends so you don't have to be afraid of real consequences!"

"I'm not scared of consequences!" Fuyuhiko protested.

"It sure seems to me like you are, I mean, why else would you dislike confrontation?" Akane prodded, "An argument is really just a bunch of immediate consequences in a row!"

"I don't really think of it that way," Fuyuhiko said, "Really, people trying to give a rebuttal or anything like that? Fucking annoying, that's all."

"Well then," Akane said, "I'll just make sure not to be annoying in our practice arguments! That way, it'll work out, right? If you can learn to argue with somebody who's not annoying about it, then you'll know how to have a confrontation with anybody!"

"I seriously doubt that you'll be able to avoid being annoying," Fuyuhiko said.

Akane pouted and went back to work cooking, "Now, that's just rude."

"It's not rude, it's just a state-" Fuyuhiko started to protest, then looked to Akane as she gave him a wink and a giggle.

"See? I was able to fight back against your insult without actually being obnoxious about it! It isn't just a statement, though, it _is_ rude. If you honestly think it isn't, then I'd be really shocked to see what you actually think is offensive!" Akane said.

"Ugh," Fuyuhiko groaned, "You're right."

"So we're on for practice arguments?" Akane asked, then continued after Fuyuhiko nodded, "Great! How about after lunch tomorrow? Arguing on a full stomach is way better than being hungry."


	18. Daily Life: Day One (Gundam)

Fuyuhiko was still in the kitchen when other people started arriving at the restaurant for the meeting. Noticing that, he bid Akane 'see you later' and went back out to the seating area. He noted that two people had arrived early; Gundam, and Mukuro, who didn't seem quite awake yet to nobody's surprise.

Fuyuhiko decided to sit down across from Gundam, "Hey, Tanaka."

"Greetings!" Gundam exclaimed, "I must say, I was not expecting either you or Ikusaba to take this initiative to be here so early!"

"It's not initiative," Fuyuhiko said, "I just didn't have anything else to do, so I figured I'd come here and not need to worry about trying to actually get here for the specific time. I bet that Ikusaba came here so that she could avoid sleeping through the actual meeting time. You're the only one who's early because of initiative."

"Ah, you're correct..." Gundam said, "I wasn't even considering that! Thank you, Kuzuryuu, for reminding me that my own experiences and ideas are not universal! While I considered that I was here for the purpose of arriving early, I didn't consider that you would have any other reason... Even when the other reasons are actually completely reasonable as well! Being early simply as a precaution against being late is even more intelligent than being early for the sake of showing initiative."

"Yeah, whatever you say," Fuyuhiko mumbled, staring over at Mukuro, "Do you think she's narcoleptic?"

"Hm," Gundam said, "Ikusaba does seem to be cursed with an excess of drowsiness, especially when all the rest of us are still perfectly alert at this point. It appears that she would have already taken a nap, too, and most would be refreshed after such an endeavor... However, at the same time, I have worked with athletes suffering from the true curse of narcolepsy! And Ikusaba does not seem to present the proper symptoms! Narcolepsy is not an eternal sleepiness, it comes in waves. And it has been long enough a wave should already have completed..."

"Huh," Fuyuhiko noted, "So why _do_ you think that she's so sleepy, then?"

"Well, she must have some degree of chronic fatigue," Gundam observed, "Usually, that's remedied only impermanently with caffeine, though I'm not sure if we could get ahold of any here for her sake."

"We definitely can," Fuyuhiko said, "Mioda picked up a bunch of energy drinks from the Rocket Punch Market earlier, and I chastised her for caffeinating herself too close to nighttime."

"As if you with your talent would be anyone to talk about consuming bitter black beans at unholy hours," Gundam teased.

"Oh, shut up! I can chastise people because I speak from experience! Having coffee too close to when you're going to sleep is really miserable," Fuyuhiko said, "And there's no reason that anyone should want to stay up late tonight, either."

"Perhaps Mioda is more frightened that you think," Gundam said, "And intends not to sleep for her safety. There is of course, a possibility that the Killing Game will actually commence, after all. I wouldn't blame anybody for having fear in this situation."

"And how would staying awake even help?" Fuyuhiko asked, "If someone wanted to kill you, I really don't think that it would actually matter if you were asleep or not. Nobody's going to change their mind just because you're awake, and if you do manage to fend them off you could just end up a murderer yourself."

"A fair assessment," Gundam admitted, leaning back in his chair, "Even so. When one is frightened, they cannot be expected to think rationally, now can they?"

"I guess so," Fuyuhiko admitted, "I don't think there's really anything to be scared of, though. Either someone will actually commit a murder, or they won't. I'm leaning toward won't. I mean, even if some of this shit does happen, there can't be more than two or three people even capable of murder here, so any Killing Game would have to end pretty quickly."

"You may say that, but you don't know," Gundam said, "Perhaps only one person needs to be capable to start, but that would open the floodgates for more crimes to be committed. It's a fairly common theory, that you are shaped by your environment, is it not? The athletes I have worked with understand the theory well, as one huge tactic to prepare for an important match is to immerse oneself in the world of the sport! If swimming becomes your entire life, then the swim meet becomes a life or death matter. So if we were to start being surrounded by death... Our inhibitions against murder might fall away as well. That could be the plan of whoever sent us here..."

"I thought you were against the idea that the Killing Game could happen?" Fuyuhiko said.

"I am! I do believe in the hearts of our peers, that they won't commit such vile acts," Gundam said, "But, should one person do such a thing, then I don't believe that it would only be one. I believe that one person's actions could very well influence everybody else's stretching into the future. One murder among us would serve as an incredibly strong butterfly effect."

"Aww, come on..." Mukuro spoke up from where she sat, seeming to have woken up and started eavesdropping at some point, "I don't think I would kill somebody even if I saw someone kill somebody, no way!"

"Obviously it wouldn't be universally the case," Gundam said, "But if somebody was prone to suggestion... And of course, if the murderer turned out to be somehow sympathetic, then all would be lost and those who are easily convinced into certain behavior would truly be doomed into an inescapable void..."

"I don't believe in that," Mukuro said.

"But-" Gundam started to protest, but she cut him off.

"I just think you're wrong," Mukuro shrugged, "I know I wouldn't kill somebody no matter what. But I don't think one murder would open the floodgates or anything... I think that there's just more people here who are capable of that sort of thing than we want to admit. It's pretty terrifying, isn't it? So don't make it scarier by saying that people who wouldn't normally be capable would, if they saw it happen first..."

"I suppose," Gundam admitted, looking down, "If you look at it that way... I'm not sure which is a more visceral thought, but either way, doesn't it seem as if we might just be doomed?"

"Doom?" Mukuro asked, then lay back down on the table, "Well, whatever. I'm going back to sleep. Doom isn't my sort of thing to worry about anyway."

"Doom is everybody's sort of thing to worry about!" Gundam protested, "After all, it's doom!"

"But, since you're the only one of us who isn't mortal," Fuyuhiko decided to play along for the greater good, "Shouldn't that doom be mostly your concern? It's a concept that's kind of beyond humanity."

"Ah, you are correct!" Gundam realized, giving a solemn nod, "Yes... It is my cosmic duty to carry the weight of this doom on my shoulders, so that none of you need to. I apologize for ever thinking otherwise, even for a moment."


	19. Daily Life: Day One (Meeting)

The rest of the Ultimate Students arrived in the restaurant soon after, generally arriving at around the same time as each other. Nobody was actually late, which boded well for them listening to the schedule that Yamaguchi planned to hand out. He had arrived third in the on-time batch, and once everybody had come in and sat down, once Akane handed out meals and took her own seat, he started his announcement, "Okay, everybody. I've been working out a very simple schedule. I believe that, working with the times listed in the rules, we should all meet for breakfast at eight in the morning, and dinner at six in the evening. Other than that, I don't have any suggestions for how you should spend your time. As Ultimates, I trust that you're already well aware of what you can do to busy yourselves and enjoy your time as much as possible."

"Thank you, Yamaguchi," Peko said, "And thanks, Owari, for the meal. It's really nice."

"I'm glad that you like it!" Akane exclaimed, then looked to Yamaguchi, "I'll keep cooking meals, for the times that you specified. People will be more willing to make it to the restaurant at eight in the morning if they know that there will be good food waiting there for them!"

"Yes, very true!" Yamaguchi confirmed, now taking his own seat to start eating the meal that Akane had prepared, "Now, it won't be absolutely mandatory, but do know that failure to show up to either of these meetings will result in all of us being very concerned for your well-being, and assuming that you are dead until you're located, unless of course you send somebody else with a good reason for why you're missing it."

"That makes sense," Fuyuhiko said, "It's only natural in a situation like this, to jump to conclusions."

"I'll do my best, not to make anybody worry..." Mikan said, mostly to herself as she ate her vegetarian katsudon. She'd informed Akane that she wasn't a strict vegetarian because 'circumstances made that difficult' in her everyday life, but she'd take vegetarian options over meat if they were available.

"Yeah, we'll all be careful!" Nekomaru exclaimed, clapping one hand to his chest, "I promise, we won't ever do anything as dumb as failing to show up, unaccounted for. We will not let you believe, even for a moment, that this atrocious Killing Game has actually begun!"

"Yes, thank you," Yamaguchi said.

"The only way we'll let you think the game's begun is if it actually has," Mahiru assured, "As much as we don't want to dwell on what Monokuma told us, and we can't allow it to overcome our entire lives here, we do need to consider everybody's safety throughout our time here. Monokuma's motives could play dirty when it distributes them, after all. If it really wants us to kill each other, it might resort to such endeavors as starving us or preventing us from sleep until a murder occurs."

"You really think that would happen?" Sonia asked, "If someone wants to see us turn against each other, then I'd think that would be counterproductive, and not interesting at all. Putting us in such dire straits that we have no choice but to kill somebody doesn't make sense. I bet the motives will be more interesting than that... Not to say that I'm interesting in the Killing Game, but doesn't it seem strange that we'd be forced into killing, instead of letting it unfold naturally? That's the sort of motive of somebody who just wants us dead, not who wants to witness us turning on each other. Not that I think any Killing Game _will_ unfold naturally!"

"You must stop such talk!" Nekomaru exclaimed, "No Killing Game will be happening here! If I continue taking photographs all the time, then there would never be the opportunity to get away with murder!"

"It's not like you can take pictures of the whole island at once," Hiyoko griped, "So that's a super dumb thing to say. Is your brain a darkroom too or something?"

"It was a good effort, Nekomaru," Souda assured him before Hiyoko's insult could really land.

"Yamaguchi, I have something to say," Nagito piped up, "If we look at the sort of talents we have between some of us here... Light Music, Gymnastics, Cooking, and of course my own Traditional Dancing, doesn't it seem like we'd have exactly the right collection of talents to put on a festival?"

"If everybody would like to participate in a festival of some sort, then you're perfectly welcome to," Yamaguchi said, "Any time that works for you."

"How about tomorrow night??" Akane offered, jumping back out of her seat and raising one hand high in the air.

"That seems a bit soon," Yamaguchi said, "While I have no doubt you'd be capable of preparations by the time that you've proposed, it may be overwhelming to others who want to be involved in setup."

"I mean, I don't really care," Hajime said, his feet on the table as he stared at the ceiling, "They left an electric guitar in my room, all I'd really need to do to be ready to put on a performance would be tuning that thing. And I mean, if anyone wants to run backup for me, you don't really need talent to harmonize, you just need to not be tone deaf. I could teach you in like, an hour, maybe two. You're all quick learners here, though, so I'd wager more on the side of one."

"It was my suggestion to have a festival, I can certainly be prepared to put on my own show in that time. I can also decorate for it," Nagito said, "I don't have any issue with doing it tomorrow."

"Ibuki will help decorate!" Ibuki volunteered, "And also show off super cool gymnastics!"

"Well, then," Yamaguchi chuckled a bit, "What time would you like to invite the rest of your peers to participate in this festival tomorrow?"

"It should open at five," Hajime offered, "That way, everyone can meet up there for the six pm meeting instead."

"Hey, I have something for you guys," Hiyoko spoke up, "I could probably jerry-rig a food cart real quick, so you can keep cooking during the event. Also, if you want to have an indoor portion, you could set up around the old hotel building that I woke up in. There's a bunch of space over there... And that's the most help I'm gonna give you with this stupid idea!"

"Thank you, Saionji. That's very kind of you," Nagito said, "So, it's decided. We'll have a festival tomorrow evening."


	20. Daily Life: Day One (Nekomaru)

With that conversation finished, everybody finished eating quite quickly, and dispersed again without much chatter. Peko stuck around with Fuyuhiko this time, as did Nekomaru, who approached the both of them once they were alone, "Hey there. I had a question for you two... Well, more of a request, to be honest."

"A request?" Fuyuhiko asked, "What do you _want_?"

"Well, it's fairly simple," Nekomaru said, "I've noticed that the two of you seem quite close. I'm interested in photographing all sorts of aspects of humanity, and I'd like to see what the camera thinks of your friendship."

"That sounds stupid," Fuyuhiko said.

"Kuzu," Peko frowned at him, then looked back to Nekomaru, "Sorry about him. I think that we should do it. I mean, I don't have any problem with it. What do you need from us?"

"I'm not going to ask you to pose," Nekomaru said, "Really, I'd just like permission to be able to photograph you whenever the moment strikes me. I know that some people aren't quite comfortable with candids, so anybody I'm interested in getting candids of, I'll ask for their consent."

"That's nice of you," Peko said, "It's perfectly alright, though. I'm used to having photos taken of me without even being asked, so it's already a step up that you wanted my permission. Kuzu?"

"I guess if it's okay with you, it's okay with me," Fuyuhiko admitted, then turned to Nekomaru, "So, yeah, that's okay. As long as you aren't super conspicuous about it, I mean. If I can tell that I'm being photographed, it's hard to keep acting natural."

"Of course! What sort of photographer would I be if I couldn't take pictures without alerting the subject to my presence?" Nekomaru asked, "Not to say that I would ever actually take photographs in secret or anything like that! It's just that I have the ability to be discreet!"

"I understand," Peko said, "Don't worry, Nidai. I can tell that you wouldn't do something like that. You seem to have an honorable disposition."

"I try my hardest!" Nekomaru assured her with a grin, "I think that the most important thing is to be an honorable person! Even if you sometimes end up hurting others or doing bad things, you can maintain your honor throughout it and atone for your wrongs... But if you are not an honorable person to begin with, then how could you ever be forgiven for the things you do?"

"That's a good point," Peko said, "If you make a habit out of being a good friend and a good person, then it's much easier to find forgiveness if you make a mistake."

"Or you could just not make any mistakes that you'd need to be forgiven for," Fuyuhiko said, "And then you don't have to suck up for years to get away with murder once, goddamn. If that's the reason you want to be a good person, then you're totally fake."

"I didn't mean it as the only reason that I want to be a good person and a good friend!" Nekomaru exclaimed, "Rather, that if something seriously went wrong, I would have the chance to be forgiven, while somebody who was not a good person and a good friend likely wouldn't!"

"No backtracking now," Fuyuhiko said.

"I'm not backtracking..." Nekomaru complained, "And I certainly didn't mean murder! I meant, if I were to take a photograph I shouldn't have, by accident, surely the fact that I'm a good person and friend, and would be willing to delete it, would be able to keep that friendship from ending."

"Yeah, now that makes sense," Fuyuhiko said, "But it's common sense, not any sort of motto, I mean, seriously. Anybody I actually care about, I treat that way too."

"Well, I actually care about everyone here!" Nekomaru said.

"Good luck with that," Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes, "No offense, but if a Killing Game did start, caring about everyone here's not gonna turn out very well for you. I'd rather just have a few people to worry about."

"I hate to admit it, but that's true," Peko said, "In the event that people did start dying, I don't want to be all torn up. I'll avoid getting attached to anybody else here. I can't avoid being attached to Kuzu, given that we were best friends before we ever ended up here, but you've got to protect your emotions in a crisis."

"That's a sad way of looking at things," Nekomaru said, frowning as he looked away, "Don't you want to think that the game won't happen? When it doesn't, if you refuse to make any friends, then you'll be really lonely."

"Oh, I've made friends," Peko said, "I get along quite well with everybody in our small group. However, there's a difference between having a friend and being close enough to somebody to be distraught over their death. My talent involves quite a bit of diplomacy, so I shouldn't have trouble walking that line. I'd be sad, of course, but it wouldn't seriously hurt me to watch any of my friends die but Kuzu."

"Yeah, that's smart," Fuyuhiko said, "I'm getting to know people too, but I'm keeping a healthy distance. Owari's trying to get friendlier, though, and that's kind of annoying. She offered to have practice arguments with me so that I could get used to confrontation."

"I think that would be useful, though," Peko said, "And maybe pretending to argue with her will legitimately alert her to the fact that you don't want to be close with her?"

"You people..." Nekomaru groaned, looking between the two of them, "You're seriously conspiring on how not to end up caring about people? Forgive me, but that's insane."

"I guess it is," Peko said, "But you'd do the same as us, if you were actually afraid that Monokuma could make a Killing Game happen with these motives that we haven't even seen yet. I guess that you're just braver than we are."

"Don't just brush it off like that..." Nekomaru sighed, "Come on, put more of an effort in. Face your fears and actually get close to people here. If we all look out for each other, then it's much less likely that a Killing Game even could happen!"

"I'm not sure we should try," Peko said, "After all. Becoming close friends is the first step to having a serious falling-out. Having a serious falling-out, having drama like that, could make the Killing Game _more_ likely. I want to play it safe. I don't want to die, and I don't want to have to cry here either."


	21. Daily Life: Day One (Garden Center)

Nekomaru left Peko and Fuyuhiko alone in the restaurant again, and Fuyuhiko sat back down, groaning, "Maybe he's right..."

"I don't think so," Peko said, sitting down across from him, "Really, I think the worst part about this situation is that you're here also. Not that it's unpleasant to be around you or anything like that, but really, I don't want to have to be worrying about you..."

"So don't worry," Fuyuhiko said, shrugging, "I can handle myself, and I'm not about to kill anybody. I know the same thing's true for you. If we don't trust anybody else, we'll never end up getting betrayed or anything. We'll be fine if we're careful."

"It's not really possible to have a good friend without trusting them, though, is it?" Peko said, "So Nidai is still wrong. The safest way to exist in this place is to isolate ourselves from the others, for our own survival _and_ for our emotional health. Even so, I think that I will try to enjoy tomorrow's festival..."

"Same here," Fuyuhiko said, "Attendance is basically mandatory as far as Yamaguchi said, but may as well actually have a nice time, since people are putting in the effort for it. It might be kind of cool to hear Hinata's music, anyway."

"It will be nice to see the talents of our peers demonstrated," Peko agreed, "We should be civil, of course. One can be civil and careful at the same time."

"Do you think Nidai's gonna tell the others that we don't have any intention of becoming real friends, though?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"I hope not," Peko said, "I mean, he has to have understood that it's a matter of our personal safety. Informing anybody else of our situation would be bringing harm onto us, and I can't imagine that Nidai wants to do that."

"That's fair," Fuyuhiko said, "Well, I guess we just have to have our fingers crossed."

"Yeah," Peko agreed, leaning against the table as she took a deep breath, "I'm sorry that I admitted it to him. That may have been a mistake."

"Maybe," Fuyuhiko said, "But if it was, then I guess that we'll just have to deal with the consequences."

Peko gave a nod, folding her hands under her chin.

"Anyway," Fuyuhiko stood up again, "It's still too early to go to sleep, so I guess we need to figure out something to do."

"Why don't we take a look at what DVDs are in the Rocket Punch Market?" Peko asked, "Since our rooms do have those DVD players, we may as well see if there's anything interesting there, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Fuyuhiko said, "We can do that. That's actually a really good idea."

"I know," Peko laughed as she also stood and started to lead the way out of the restaurant and toward the market, "We could watch something together, or we could watch two different things in our own rooms. It depends on what we find, I suppose."

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed, "It's weird, there actually _isn't_ a ton to do here. I guess that's the point, if the game is supposed to unlock new areas..."

"People can always find their own entertainment, though," Peko said, "I don't think that's very strong motivation to kill somebody. There's plenty of space here, movies, and other interesting things. Like those chickens."

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko said, "But you never know. Maybe for _somebody_ , boredom would actually be worth killing over."

"You do never know," Peko admitted, "But I want to at least look a little bit on the bright side. It's one thing to have a healthy amount of pessimism to be cautious, it's another to just be negative all the time."

"That's true," Fuyuhiko said, "I guess we just have to figure out the right balance..."

"It might take a few patches," Peko joked, "But we'll get there."

"We will," Fuyuhiko agreed, then the two of them arrived at the Rocket Punch Market. At which point Mikan immediately squeaked in surprise, and crouched down behind the aisle.

"Ah, Tsumiki?" Peko called out, "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to startle you!"

"I'm sorry too! I didn't mean to get startled!" Mikan called out, but didn't stand up, "I wasn't expecting anyone else to come in here! A bunch of the others came here right after dinner, but I walked in after they all left..."

"We came to look at the DVD selection," Peko explained.

"Ah, I see... I came in here because, there's a terrarium in the lobby Monokuma said I could use for Pom-Pom so the heat doesn't get to her, but there's pretty much no enrichment in there, even though there's a food supply for her next to it, she'll get bored... I was trying to see if I could find anything to make it more interesting for her," Mikan explained.

"Oh, that's really quite sweet," Peko noted, then starting looking around the aisles, "What sort of things are enrichment for a snake, anyhow? Two sets of eyes might be the key to finding what you need, right?"

"Oh, yes, thank you! It's not that much that I need, just... Maybe a large dish for water, so she can actually swim in it a little? And if you find any logs or other things she could use as hiding spots. Also, if we could just find some woodchips or gravel I could give her a better variety of substrate depths. If we find that, then I could use toilet paper rolls too..." Mikan explained, "Snakes aren't very hard to care for, but they still need this sort of stuff!"

"I can imagine," Peko agreed, nodding as she started to look around for anything along the lines of what Mikan said. Fuyuhiko helped as well, given he had no reason not to. Despite their help, though, Mikan still ended up being the one to find what she was looking for.

"Ah!" Mikan exclaimed joyfully, "There's a garden section! This has got everything I was looking for... I can even put some of these real plants in there with her, she'll love that."

Peko and Fuyuhiko joined Mikan in the aisle, and it was a surprise that neither of them had actually noticed this area before. From anywhere else in the store, it looked just like the rest of the standard convenience store aisles, but once inside, it was quite out of place. The tile floor gave way to dirt. There were bags of all variety of soil on the ground, watering cans, landscaping items. One shelf was stacked to bursting with seeds, and the rest of the place was dedicated to potted ferns, flowers, and even a few fruit and vegetable plants in early growth stages. And tucked into the corner were what were labeled as fruit tree saplings.

"This is... Quite impressive," Peko observed.

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed, "I think I know what people might be working on once the festival's done..."

"I'll bring it up to the others at breakfast," Peko said, "If too many people try to help with setup on the festival, they may just get in the way, so some may want a headstart on planting instead."

"I would definitely rather garden than set up a festival, if they don't need me there..." Mikan said, "There's plenty of land out behind the chicken farm, too, and I bet that's soil instead of sand! Though, we'd probably still want to put some of this soil on top, it's got lots of nutrients, the bag says. I only know a little about gardening, since I did have to do some of it to make habitats, but not a ton."

"Nobody has that type of talent here," Fuyuhiko said, "But I bet it would still be fun, and you have some knowledge Tsumiki, and somebody else probably does too. Ultimates can have other skills, after all."

"I've always wanted to take up gardening," Peko said, "But it was considered unseemly, for me to go digging around in the dirt. I have cared for some potted orchids before, though."

"If we want these plants to live," Mikan realized, "They probably do need to be transplanted relatively soon... I'll take a few for Pom-Pom's terrarium, then I'll come back and maybe we can take a little bit of time to at least get the trees planted properly?"

"That sounds like a great plan," Peko said, then turned to Fuyuhiko, "Isn't this better than our original plan?"

"...Yeah," Fuyuhiko admitted. Somehow, she was right. Gardening with Mikan _did_ seem like more fun than watching a movie by themselves.


	22. Daily Life: Day One (A Country Accent)

It didn't take long for Mikan to return from her mission to improve her snake's terrarium, and once she did, she immediately hoisted a big bag of the nutrient-rich soil from off the floor. She was surprisingly strong for her size and disposition, a fact which she noticed as soon as she looked at the other two's faces and noted, "In my line of work, you have to end up strong, because what if you need to pick up an animal? I'm always trying to be strong enough to lift whatever I need to... I mean, fully grown cows and horses are a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I can pick up almost any baby animal on the planet... It's important."

"That's a fair point," Fuyuhiko said, then picked up one of the saplings. It was about as big as him, so pretty unwieldy, but not exactly heavy. If he were taller, he could easily manage two at a time, but as it was his shins were going to end up bruised in this endeavor. Peko was actually able to hold two of them , though she was in a similar boat that it wasn't exactly comfortable to do so. Even still, the three of them made their way out to the farm, setting each of their items against the back of the building. Behind it, where Peko and Fuyuhiko hadn't yet been, was a rather large patch of grass with what appeared to be a small freshwater pond in one corner of the land, just before it transitioned back to sand. Fuyuhiko couldn't help voicing his surprise, "This is... Pretty cool, actually."

"It's nice that we're already discovering things we didn't know about before," Peko said, brushing off the front of her dress, "And this should keep us busy pretty much every day, watering and weeding it, between everybody who wants to take part..."

"I hope that some of the others will enjoy it," Mikan said, pulling the bag of soil open.

"I'm sure at least some of them will," Peko noted, "Tanaka would likely enjoy any activity, as far as I can tell. Nevermind and Hanamura might have some sort of experience, too, since their talents are a bit different in nature from the rest of ours. They seem like they'd be more well-rounded."

"What about Ikusaba?" Mikan asked, "Doesn't she have the same talent as Nevermind?"

"She does," Fuyuhiko said, "But she probably wouldn't really want to do something as active as this. She's really tired all of the time."

"Oh, I see," Mikan said, "But you never know, right? Maybe she'll be well-rested tomorrow and then she will want to?"

"Maybe," Peko noted, walking back over to the farm wall and grabbing one of the hoes that was leaning against it, "We have to get this grass out of the way, don't we?"

"Yes, that's right!" Mikan agreed, grabbing another one of her own, "I guess we just... Hit the ground, then drag the grass out of the way? I've never had to do anything like this before, all of the habitats were built from the ground up. I just started with a concrete base and put all the dirt there myself."

"Well, then it's time to learn how to hoe, I guess," Peko said, "It isn't like I've ever done anything like this either..."

"Hey," Hajime's voice called out, and Fuyuhiko turned to see him approaching, hands in his pockets, "What are you guys up to, huh?"

"We found a garden section at the market," Peko explained, turning to look at him, "And we decided that we should transplant the fruit trees."

"Aw, shit, that's cool," Hajime said, then looked between Peko and Mikan holding their hoes, "You guys... Have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Ahh... No, not really," Mikan admitted, looking away, "I've planted things before, but I've never tilled land."

"Well, why not ask Komaeda or Koizumi to help you with that?" Hajime offered, "They both talk like they've lived out in the country before, so they might have some idea of how to do that sort of thing."

"They... talk like it?" Mikan questioned.

"Right," Hajime said, crossing his arms in front of himself, "Hanamura does too, actually, but the other two seem more... Capable. They've all kind of got accents. I guess that makes sense though. Swordsmanship and Traditional Dancing are pursuits which are taught a lot more out in the 'boonies' than in cities these days."

"How can you tell that?" Peko asked, "And is it a skill you could teach me?"

"Huh? I mean, I don't think so," Hajime said, "I just have an ear for tone, so I can pick up on those things. You'd have to learn music first, to learn it the way that I did, so I'm not sure I could teach you... Why would you use it, though?"

"It could be useful in diplomacy," Peko said, "You can easily get the upper hand by making such deductions about a person before they've told you."

Hajime shrugged, "I guess so. Seems like you'd have plenty of upper hands to begin with, though. It'd be pretty damning to give you any more of those tools, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think it would be," Peko said, tilting her head to the side, "It isn't like I've ever done anything bad with my skills before."

"How would you know that?" Hajime asked, "The point of diplomacy is still to manipulate others into doing what's best for your own cause, right? Even if the situation is legitimately beneficial to both of you, surely there was some other outcome that was actually better for the other party..."

"Please don't fight..." Mikan protested, holding her hoe closer to herself and frowning, "Come on, Hinata, why don't you garden with us? It would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"I'd love to, but," Hajime rolled his shoulders, "Hanamura and Ikusaba volunteered to sing backup for me, so I gotta get on making sure they can handle it and all. I was just taking a walk to think first, but I was heading back that way. I'd say, if you're planning to work on this tonight into tomorrow, Koizumi's your best bet at a helping hand. If I run into her, I'll send her your way, right?"

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko said, then in spite of the tension between Hajime and Peko, "Thanks, Hinata."


	23. Daily Life: Day One (Gardening)

The three of them set to work the best they could, but their efforts at tilling the soil didn't seem quite right. They weren't sure what they did wrong, or how to right it, but they knew that it was incorrect, and sighed as they sat on the ground between the saplings that they dared not try to plant yet. They silently stewed in their ineptitude for which felt like quite a while, but which was really just five minutes before Hajime's recommended savior made an appearance, standing above them with her hands on her hips and a disappointed look across her face. She was clearly not expecting that she would need to deal with this, two people who rarely left the comfort of the indoors and a girl who was only brave enough for animals rather than humans... Trying to farm.

"Come on, Kuzuryuu... Pekoyama... Do I really have to handle everything around here? I thought you were better than this, honestly," Mahiru reprimanded them, then picked up one of the hoes herself, maneuvering it without any difficulty over her shoulder before she planted it in the ground, "I've never done this myself, but I've witnessed the act plenty of times. Plus, it isn't like a hoe's that different from a weapon, you just need to know how to handle the thing. You guys almost got it right, too... You just needed to dig it in deeper, really. You didn't disturb the roots enough, so you just ended up cutting or knotting up the grass instead of pulling it up. I'll fix this, I guess..."

As Mahiru got to work, Mikan spoke up, "Ahh... I'm really sorry, Koizumi. We thought this would be a nice thing to do, but none of us had any experience, so we messed it up..."

"Well, Tsumiki, it's not like it's a big deal or anything," Mahiru shrugged, "Honestly, looking at it logically, none of you would know how to do this. I'm surprised you even tried. But hey, in the future, think a little about the people around you! Don't be ashamed of asking around for help with something you've got no clue how to do."

"It's hard to do something like that, though," Mikan said, "I mean, even right now, I feel like we're asking you to do something unreasonable or too much, or at least, something you would rather not be doing and that we could have figured out for ourselves, if I wasn't so useless, and-"

"Tsumiki," Peko reprimanded her, "Koizumi is doing us a favor. Don't apologize for the fact that the opportunity arose for her to do us that favor, just thank her for doing it for us. Apologizing like that just makes the person you're apologizing to feel bad for doing you the favor. It doesn't come across like you really feel bad, it comes across like receiving the help is hurting your pride."

"I certainly don't have any pride to be hurt, though," Mikan mumbled, "I know that I really am completely worthless when it comes to anything but my Ultimate Talent!"

Mahiru rolled her eyes, "We've all felt like that at some point, but if that was really true, you never would have lived this long. Just because there isn't anything else that you excel at doesn't mean that you're bad at the other things, though. It really just feels like average is bad, when so much of your life revolves around people saying that you're the best at something. So lighten up a little bit, okay, Tsumiki? Don't be so hard on yourself. I bet other people have done that plenty enough for your lifetime."

"Uhh..." Mikan muttered, then gave a small nod, "You, yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I mean! I'm sorry for saying sorry so much, but also, I mean... I don't know what I mean."

"It's okay," Mahiru said, "Us girls need to stick together though, right?"

"Yeah," Mikan said, then looked to Mahiru again, frowning, "Are people really hard on you, Koizumi? That doesn't seem right at all. You're so cool!"

"I mean, yeah," Mahiru said, "People had to be hard on me, to get me to be the best. I never thought about being hard on myself, cause I already had so much pressure from other people, you know? You can't afford to do that kind of stuff, when lots of people say you have to be the best, or that you're just not good enough."

"I wish that I could actually have the mental strength not to let those kinds of things get to me," Mikan mumbled, "I'd just let the expectations of the animals be what mattered to me, if I could. But that's not the way that things are. Instead, there's so many expectations, it's not just animals counting on me, and I hate it, and then I feel bad for hating it, and..."

"It sounds like you get stuck in some pretty terrible cycles, Tsumiki," Peko observed, "You need to learn to stop those thoughts before they start going in circles."

"How am I supposed to do _that_?" Mikan questioned, "That sounds like something really impossible! How can you control your own thoughts like that?"

"It's not that hard," Peko said, "Just take a deep breath and remind yourself of the facts of the situation, not what you perceive or feel. Then you just figure out what thoughts and feelings are the direct result of those facts, and which are your idiot brain trying to make you sad."

"That's too much critical thought to stop my wild thoughts..." Mikan said, "I dunno if I can ever get better at assuming the worst in any situation. The world is scary, you know?"

"Yeah, it's scary," Fuyuhiko butted in, "So why let your stupid brain run amok and make it scarier? Seriously, that doesn't make any sense. I don't know what you have to do to fix that, but it can't be healthy."

"Well it doesn't usually matter," Mikan said, "Because I usually just spend time with animals, not with people at all. I managed to get away from all of the people who were making life terrible for me, and then I didn't even get to enjoy my final full escape from society before I ended up here! I spent as little time with people as possible for all of my life and it was always really bad, and there's not even anywhere to hide here, and I won't be safe here if I don't make friends with other humans, I mean, I..."

"Don't worry about it," Peko said, reaching out to pat her gently on the head with a warm smile, "Anyone here will give you your space if you need it, and if you don't want us to put any expectations on you, then we won't. It'll be alright. I don't know what's going to happen, but nobody's going to do anything to make you feel like this place is Hell."


	24. Daily Life: Day Two (The Day Of The Festival)

With Mahiru’s guidance, the three of them ended up working on the garden behind the farm for a few hours. By the time Monokuma’s pseudo-curfew was approaching, they were definitely tired enough to go back to the hotel and get some sleep. They each went to their respective rooms, and when Fuyuhiko reached his, he opened up the door of the closet and found that he’d been provided with pajamas, or at least, a fitting equivalent. A pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, both plain, several copies of it. More comfortable, marginally, than his usual outfit, when it came to sleeping anyhow. He might not want to go outside in the pajama analog, but he’d sleep in it just fine.

He was already much too sound asleep to hear Monokuma’s announcement that it was ten at night, but he was woken up by the announcement at six the following morning. It roused him from his bed with its loud and shrill, “Up and at em, kiddies! Today’s your festival so you’ve got to get right to work! I’m so excited to see what sort of fun times you Ultimates can put together… And to see if it ends up being perverted by a massive and tragic event! Like, I dunno, a school-sanctioned murder? Well, it’s six AM, time to wake up, behave and I’ll see you around!”

Fuyuhiko groaned and got out of bed, then wandered over to the attached bathroom. He’d just get sweaty again today, but that didn’t change the fact he wanted to wash away the stench of yesterday’s hard work. And boy, was it a stench. Sleeping in different clothes hardly helped, but he was too exhausted to be aware of it until now. He stripped down and got into the shower once the water was warm enough, and it not only cleaned away the stench, it also soothed his muscles. He probably hadn’t ever exercised that much in a day, ever in his whole life. He was honestly _less_ sore than he was expecting to be, so he took it as a bonus.

Fuyuhiko never spent much time showering, he kept his hair so short that there really wasn’t any maintenance to do on it or anything like that. Once he was finished showering he found a copy of the clothes he’d worn yesterday, but skipped on the outer hoodie layer for the sake of his temperature, especially if he was going to commit to more gardening.

With that done, he made his way out of his room and to the restaurant for breakfast, though he did stall a bit so he wouldn’t be the first one there again. He didn’t need another conversation with Akane first thing in the morning.

His efforts to avoid being early did pay off, when Souda was already there upon Fuyuhiko’s arrival. He was the only one, but at least one person was earlier. Fuyuhiko would have to push his arrival even later, but for now, he may as well have a chat with the one person who’d gotten there before him.

“Morning, Kazuichi,” Fuyuhiko said, sitting down across from Souda, “How long have you been up?”

“A little while,” He answered, “And good thing I was, cause Owari managed to cut herself while working on breakfast. I mean, probably because I was distracting her with conversation, but still. If anyone else was distracting her, she might not have such an expert band-aid application.”

“Pft,” Fuyuhiko chuckled a bit, “And is anybody off distracting her now?”

“Hanamura is,” Souda answered, shrugging, “She doesn’t seem to mind him or anything. I mean, she didn’t mind me, but he’s way more intense than I am! And she doesn’t care about that! I mean, it’s pretty nice of her, I guess.”

“I’m not sure it’s so good to enable Hanamura,” Fuyuhiko mumbled.

Souda leaned against the table, “Eh, I think Owari can take care of herself. If he actually tries anything that crosses a line, she’ll cut his dick off or something. She’s very loose with serious knife threats. Not like she’s threatening murder or anything, only an idiot would do that in a possible Killing Game scenario!”

“Well, it wouldn’t surprise me if she did,” Fuyuhiko said, “She’s only really smart when it comes to her Ultimate Talent.”

“You’re underestimating her, dude,” Souda said, “I mean, she’s not a genius, but she’s not an idiot either, you gotta know that.”

“I don’t ‘gotta know that’, I hardly know anything about any of you yet,” Fuyuhiko complained, rolling his eyes, “I’d rather assume the worst of everyone and be proven wrong, than to think better of you guys and then suffer as a result.”

Souda shrugged, “Whatever you gotta do, man, but that seems like a pretty depressing way to live. You’re gonna at least enjoy yourself at the festival, right?”

“I mean, I’ll try to,” Fuyuhiko said, “Oh, that reminds me. Were you planning to help with that set-up?”

“Yeah,” Souda said, “I’ll set up a first-aid tent. You know, just in case. It’s not that I’m paranoid, but you wanna be prepared, right? And when people are having fun, that’s when they might not be as careful and end up getting hurt.”

“That’s smart, I guess,” Fuyuhiko admitted with a nod, “Yeah, too many people setting up would probably just get in the way, though. Peko and I are going to be gardening out behind the farm, since we found a bunch of plants in the Rocket Punch market.”

“That’s a good idea,” Souda said, “That’s definitely something cool and helpful that can be done without crowding the festival preparations. Just make sure you take showers before you come on over to the festival! You won’t have fun if you’re all sweaty.”

“I mean, obviously,” Fuyuhiko said, “We’ll make sure to leave ourselves enough time to get ready.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame that we just have multiple copies of the same outfits in all our rooms, though,” Souda sighed, “One of the best parts of a festival is seeing all the girls in yukata…”

“Maybe they could all just borrow copies of Komaeda’s outfit?” Fuyuhiko offered up, chuckling just slightly at his own bad joke.

“No, that wouldn’t work,” Souda groaned, taking him seriously, “The type of yukata that a girl chooses to wear… That’s half the appeal! A yukata is truly a reflection of a girl’s deepest personality!”

“Whatever you say,” Fuyuhiko mumbled.


	25. Daily Life: Day Two (Is That A Fucking Gremlin?)

Somebody else arrived to the cafeteria moments later, and it was another one of the students who was already guaranteed to be helping with the festival set-up. Hiyoko Saionji wandered into the room, and sat down next to Fuyuhiko with an immediate tongue-lashing, "Don't think I'm sitting here because I actually want to, I'm just sitting here so that there's one less seat that somebody I like even less than you could sit down in."

"Morning, Saionji," Fuyuhiko said without even batting an eye at her statement, "How did you sleep?"

"...Pretty good. I mean," Hiyoko shrugged, "I was really busy working on that project with Pekoyama and Komaeda all day, so by the time I went to bed I was super exhausted. Anyone would sleep well if they were that physically tired, you know? What do you care how well I sleep anyway?"

"I was just curious," Fuyuhiko said with a shrug of his own, "Making small talk. Whatever you want to call it."

Though, Hiyoko's statement did make him realize something. Peko had helped with the boat all day, then with farming all evening. If he was this sore from doing only one of those things, and Hiyoko, whose talent actually came into play on boat-building, was this tired... Then Peko might not even feel up to getting out of bed, let alone doing any more of the labo-intensive gardening.

"Well, I hate small talk," Hiyoko said, glaring at him, "Big talk only in my vicinity, okay?"

"But wouldn't any conversation between the two of you be small talk?" Souda wondered aloud, earning himself a look of death from both of the pint-sized victims of his slightly insulting joke.

"We're not that short!" Fuyuhiko chided him, stepping to the aid of Hiyoko as well in the process.

"Yeah, idiot! Besides, if _you_ weren't so stupid tall then maybe your outfit would actually fit you right! You ever think about that? At least we wear clothes that are actually flattering to our body types!" Hiyoko piped in as well.

"I'm not stupid tall, five-seven is pretty normal for a guy!" Souda protested, "If anyone's stupid tall, it's half the girls here who are as tall as me! Or taller! And what about Tanaka, huh? Or Nidai, those guys are seriously stupid tall!"

"Yeah, I'll admit, they're stupid tall..." Hiyoko started.

"But at least they wear clothes that fit right," Fuyuhiko finished, then they both started snickering about their joint comeback.

"What? Come on, Kuzuryuu, I thought that we were buddies!" Souda complained.

Fuyuhiko blinked, "I wouldn't say buddies, but yeah, you're tolerable. So what? I'm still an asshole."

"I'll say," Hiyoko said, the laughter still tinging her voice, "You're an asshole, and I'm a dick! This guy's a total pussy, so by our powers combined, we are... The Mighty Hermaphrodite."

Souda stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing, "Okay, maybe you are a little funny. That's such a shitty joke to make, but damn..."

"Yeah, I figured you'd like an awful joke like that, you seem like the sort of guy to complain that everything's too PC now, as if you're not allowed to say whatever the Hell you want on television and the only places policing language like that are insular online communities that you actively have to seek out to see your complaints in action," Hiyoko said, holding her arms out to either side of her, "Can I read 'em, or can I read 'em?"

"I've never once complained about PC culture..." Souda said, "But I guess that you're right, it's possible that I could end up being that sort of insufferable prick if I wasn't careful. I think your existence just about proves that censorship's not that big a problem, though."

"Yeah, you're right. If a total loli like me can say stuff this crude, then there's no way there's a censorship problem! There's the opposite! Good Christian Mothers are clutching their pearls and whining about the state of this country as their own eleven year old children call adult virgins cumdumpsters online!" Hiyoko brought her hands back in, holding them close to herself in a mocking prayer pose, "Oh, humanity's fate is bleak!"

"I can verify, eleven year olds do that, and often," Fuyuhiko piped in.

"Maybe humanity's fate really is bleak, then," Souda said, looking between the two of them, "Sorry I called you small. You guys are actually pretty cool."

"Yeah, I know that," Hiyoko said, "Kuzuryuu and I are probably the coolest people here on this island of losers, thanks for finally acknowledging that. Fine, so you're a little bit cool too. That's the one and only time I'll ever say something like that, though!" Hiyoko said, "Euch. Calling somebody other than me cool, feels like I should go sit for five minutes with a bar of soap in my mouth or something."

"You're experiencing growth as a person," Souda said, then hesitated a moment and waved his hands in front of himself, "I swear, that wasn't another short joke! I meant it in a completely sincere way! You're growing, emotionally!"

"That's worse than it being another short joke! No way am I growing emotionally! You take that back! I take back calling you cool, you suck, you're the worst!" Hiyoko complained, hiding her face in her hands.

"Whatever you say, Saionji," Souda said, chuckling a bit at her antics. He couldn't help it. Now that he'd come to understand her harmlessness, it was somehow endearing to witness her petulant behavior.

"A-Anyway," Hiyoko moved on, lowering her hands again, "I gotta set up food carts for the festival today... What are your plans?"

"I'm going to pitch a first-aid tent," Souda explained, "And Kuzuryuu was planning to do some gardening, to keep out of the way. Too many cooks spoils the pot, you know?"

"Right," Hiyoko agreed, then turned to look at Fuyuhiko, "I didn't exactly take you for the gardening type, you pale bastard."

"Just because I don't go outside doesn't mean that I can't," Fuyuhiko protested, "Pekoyama and Tsumiki found gardening stuff, so I was helping them plant it behind the farm. We were planning to continue doing that today. Having a garden that anyone can tend if they feel like seems like a pretty good way to keep busy, right? Cause it's not like we can throw a festival every day, and this place would get boring eventually."

"Nowhere is boring if you're with friends!" Souda said.

"Yeah?" Hiyoko asked, "Well, too bad you're not with friends!"

"Not yet, anyway," Souda rolled with the punches, "But you two will both call me your friend eventually, I'm sure of it!"

"What's with everyone being so optimistic here? Jeeze," Hiyoko continued complaining, "It's friendship this, let me take your picture that, nobody will die this and that... But I guess it makes you good targets, anyway. Kuzuryuu's not the best target because he bites back real good, he's an adversary, not a victim! At least if you're all stupid and happy-go-lucky, I got something to make fun of."

"Whatever gets you through the day," Souda said, smiling right back at her.


	26. Daily Life: Day Two (Breakfast)

Others started to file into the dining hall soon after. Peko took a seat on the other side of Fuyuhiko, and Nekomaru ended up on Hiyoko's other one, and she determined that was acceptable enough. Across from them, Gundam sat beside Souda, and everybody else ended up at different tables. Mikan, particularly, finding an unoccupied table to call her own once everyone else was seated. Well, nearly everybody else. There were still the two in the kitchen, and of those two in the kitchen, one was almost a problem. Teruteru helped Akane distribute plates of breakfast, then they went to take their own seats. Akane sat down next to Souda, and Teruteru started to walk towards Mikan's isolated table, only for Hajime to call him over instead. Whether that was because Hajime actually didn't mine Teruteru's presence, or just because he wanted to help Mikan out, Fuyuhiko couldn't tell and didn't care.

"So, how do you like it?" Akane asked after waiting an actual amount of time, so that everyone at the table actually had the chance to try her food before she went asking their opinions on it.

"It's beyond spectacular!" Gundam exclaimed, "Of course, that's to be expected of an Ultimate, but you deserve compliments even if amazing is the standard for you!"

"Wow, thank you!" Akane said, and her cheeks were a bit flush, "Has anyone ever told you that you're really good at giving compliments?"

"I have been informed of my skills in motivating others, my skills in uplifting the sad, and my skills in determining the occult, but never before on my skill at giving compliments!" Gundam said, "So thank you very much for your acknowledgement of that, and I hope to continue utilizing that skill in the future, both for you and everyone else here! All people deserve to be recognized for their achievements."

"Yeah, it is pretty good," Hiyoko admitted under her breath, then took another bite that looked as if it wouldn't fit into her mouth, but somehow did.

"Well, I'm going to keep cooking for as long as we're here," Akane said, grinning around the table, "There's premade meals in this restaurant, sure, but I think that it's nicer to eat something if you know the person who made it, right?"

"There is certainly more of a human connection there," Nekomaru said, "And for the scrapbook I'll create of our time here, I will do my best to document every single meal that you create over the course of our stay."

"Yeah, assuming neither of you die before we get out of here..." Fuyuhiko mumbled, "There's still the threat of a Killing Game, remember? Why are you acting as if everything's fine and pleasant?"

"Well, it's better than actually acting all doom and gloom. Besides, stop acting like you're above all this, you did decide to start gardening. That's pretty optimistic of you," Hiyoko said.

Fuyuhiko blinked, then dipped his head and sighed, "Okay, you're right, Peko and I have been gardening. With Tsumiki and Koizumi too... But, that's something to keep us occupied. It's not like I'm planting trees with the expectation that I'll live to see them fully grown. Not like I want anyone to die, but I also don't want to have any expectations that might not work out."

"Yeah," Peko piped in, agreeing, "I'll do anything that takes a day, or a few days, but I wouldn't want to make any sort of promise that would require me surviving for a long time. After all, in a situation like this... It's not like in the real world, where you have the ability to be confident that you wouldn't be murdered, because you live your life in a very safe way, or you can fend off any attacker. But here..."

"Hey now, don't worry about it," Akane said, "We'll all take it one day at a time! It doesn't mean you're being pessimistic if you make that your philosophy, it's a good way to do things. I mean, loads of people out in normal life take things one day at a time, so it's not that weird not to plan for the future when we're in such a weird place. I mean, that is why we decided to hold the festival just one day after proposing its existence, isn't it?"

"I never thought of it that way," Nekomaru said, "So, in a way, those who are deciding not to make any promises of survival... Actually have more chance to enjoy the days that they do end up having?"

"Both the philosophy of planning for the future, and of living in the now, are known to function well, so I wouldn't sweat the small stuff. It all depends on what sort of person you are, what sort of philosophy of how you spend your time will be fulfilling to you," Gundam said, "Athletes, for example, usually would prescribe to a planning philosophy, as it takes time to see any results of their efforts. Muscles re-knit themselves overnight, not while you're using them, after all! But at the same time, those who do the same job every day might prefer taking it day by day, because what they then enjoy are other daily activities. And that's not to even mention the terminally ill."

"You literally mentioned them right there in that sentence, by saying that's not to mention them," Hiyoko muttered.

"Anyway," Souda said, "It doesn't really matter, right? Let's move on. So who here's working on the festival and who's going to go garden? We don't honestly need all hands on deck, really. I'll be working on the festival, Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama will be gardening..."

"I'll be helping with the festival, obviously," Hiyoko said, "And Owari, too."

"Then there's Mioda, Hanamura, Hinata, Komaeda, and Ikusaba also helping with preparations... That's exactly half of us," Souda noted.

"In that case, I'll certainly garden!" Gundam exclaimed, "Nidai! I am sure that those setting up the festival would rather there be photographs of the fruits of their labor, but perhaps you should come and photograph, and assist with, the gardening endeavor?"

"Absolutely!" Nekomaru agreed, "And of course, Tsumiki and Koizumi will reprise their gardening roles too. Shall we invite Yamaguchi and Nevermind as well?"

"I think Yamaguchi would prefer to oversee the festival than to garden. And that way, there's one suitable supervisor for each activity. Myself being the one for gardening, of course," Peko observed, "Not to say that none of you could be suitable supervisors yourself, however, we've already determined that Yamaguchi and I are the ones with leadership and human problem solving experience."

"Of course," Akane said, "I won't doubt you on that one!"

"In any case," Gundam chimed in again, "I'll go to extend an invitation to Miss Nevermind immediately!"

With that, Gundam stood and approached the table where Sonia was seated, leaving everybody else to await her response. Moments later, she picked up her whole plate and moved over to their table, taking Gundam's place next to Souda and leaning forward to address Fuyuhiko and Peko, "So you're in charge of this gardening thing? You really wouldn't mind if I joined you? I love to garden, I used to do it all the time with my mom when I was really little. It's been a long time but I'm sure I wouldn't completely suck!"


	27. Daily Life: Day Two (Finishing Breakfast)

“I was wondering about that,” Peko noted, “As somebody with a talent which isn’t something you’d need to devote all your time to… I thought you, or Ikusaba, or Hanamura might have gardening experience on some level. Those two are helping Hinata with his show, though.”

“You thought right,” Sonia said with a small giggle, “I guess that gardening really is the common man’s hobby~ I’m sure if there was an Ultimate who gardened, they would be called a Botanist or a Florist or something like that…”

"No, I think that there would be a separate title for an Ultimate Gardener too. These titles can get pretty dumb and specific, after all," Fuyuhiko said, "I mean, Komaeda is the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, not the Ultimate Dancer."

"Huh, that's true," Sonia noted, "Who knows! Maybe I'm just _almost_ good enough at gardening that I could have been the Ultimate Gardener... But then again, Nidai said that he would also be the Ultimate Scrapbooker if he could have two Ultimate titles, but he's just better at photography... Maybe all along I actually had some talent, but my Ultimate Luck is just stronger?"

"Anything is possible!" Gundam exclaimed, "And, Nevermind! You could certainly have a number of talents, but your luck is the one which qualifies you as Ultimate!"

"That's reassuring," Sonia said, giggling a bit, "I was feeling a bit inferior around all of you, but if it's possible I'm still good at _something_ , then maybe I can actually be of some use to you all! Though, um, you can just call me Sonia, okay? I know my name is a little bit weird to say out loud... Not to mention, I mean, I feel like calling somebody by their last name implies something which doesn't apply to me!"

"If you would truly like for us to refer to you by your given name, then we surely will! But only if it's your true desire and not simply some act of convenience," Gundam said, "Acting for the convenience of others is a surefire way to become dissatisfied in your life."

"Oh! No, it's nothing like that," Sonia assured him, pressing her hands together, "There's no way that I could ever be dissatisfied among Ultimates, and I'm sorry if I gave that impression! It isn't like I'm being made miserable by the simple fact that you're all much better than me. I feel kind of blessed to be able to be around Ultimates, even if it is a terrible situation which gave me the opportunity... Then again, that is how my luck tends to work."

"I see," Peko said, "Well, Sonia, I'm actually glad that you're here with us. I think that the nature of your luck could actually benefit us as a group. It's a balancing type of luck, correct? So, if the Killing Game somehow _did_ begin, then something good would happen to balance it out too, right?"

"Yes, that's possible," Sonia said, "Sort of a, at least if that did happen, then there would be something else good too... It would make it a little bit less horrible, anyway. Like the fact that I'm here with a bunch of super cool Ultimates is the upside to getting kidnapped for the purpose of a Killing Game."

"That makes sense," Hiyoko said, "I mean, it's super dumb, if I was you I would not consider being stuck with these lamers to be any sort of _good_ luck! But whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Well, it's good luck if you consider the lamers that you could have been stuck with instead of us, right Saionji?" Souda prodded.

"Huh, I guess so. You could be worse," Hiyoko admitted.

Akane spoke up then, "This garden project... There are fruit and vegetable plants, right? I hope that they actually grow, fresh produce would definitely bump my cooking up an extra notch! All the fruits and veggies in the kitchen are definitely just the results of mass-farming, and everyone knows that fresh and local produce is always going to taste better."

"I hope so too," Peko said, "It would be nice... I have no idea how close to harvesting any of the plants are, though."

"I can probably figure out that much," Sonia said, "Though, they could be some strange breed of plant here that's made to take more or less time to reach that state, so take what I say with a grain of salt!"

Fuyuhiko nodded as he spoke again, "Yeah, that's a fair point. We can't really assume anything about this place, for all we know tons of aspects of it could be totally different from what we're used to in everyday life. If the people behind this were able to kidnap us to a place like this, there's no telling what else they'd be capable of."

"We have to be on guard," Peko agreed, "Though the people behind us would clearly prefer us killing each other, to directly killing us, we don't know what sort of situations they might create to try and push us in that direction."

"It's a bummer that we even have to think about that sort of stuff, though," Souda groaned.

"I agree," Akane said with a frown, leaning on her hand, "How long do you think it'll take, with nothing bad happening, before we stop worrying about it so much?"

"At least a week, probably," Gundam stated, "A week before an important event is about when anxiety for it truly sets in, so the reverse can be true for the time it takes to alleviate anxiety of the _possibility_ of an event. Of course, that's assuming only mortal forces are at play, as the timeframe can easily be modified by unpleasant spirits or the retrograde of cosmic entities."

"You always start off strong making sense," Hiyoko observed, "And then your shitty chuunii bullshit rears its ugly, ugly head, and suddenly I can't even believe the reasonable half of the sentence."

"I am still an Ultimate!" Gundam assured her, "I have expertise in my field, and regardless of if you believe in the occult, you can trust in the nature of my statements on the mortal standard."

"Yeah, whatever you say," Hiyoko said with a roll of her eyes, turning her attention once more to her meal.


	28. Daily Life: Day Two (Farm)

When everybody was finished with breakfast, they split up to get to work on their respective activities for the day. Yamaguchi supervising Hiyoko, Souda, Hajime, Akane, Ibuki, Nagito, Mukuro, and Teruteru. Peko supervising Fuyuhiko, Sonia, Gundam, Mahiru, Nekomaru, and Mikan. The prior group went to go set up the festival by the old hotel building, while the latter made their way over to the Rocket Punch Market, gathering up the rest of the plants from the garden section. With seven of them, they were able to collect everything else that they needed in only two trips, setting all the plants by the wall of the chicken coop.

"We need to till a bit more land before we can actually get all of these things planted," Mahiru announced once they were there, "But, there's only so much space, so I'll select who I think can do it best... Myself, of course. Tsumiki, Kuzuryuu, and Pekoyama were busy doing this yesterday evening, and also weren't very good at it. You three should work on making signs so we can keep track of what's planted. Nevermind, I know you have gardening experience, but you don't really look like you have the physical strength to till the ground. You work on mixing soil with fertilizer in a bucket. So, Tanaka, Nidai, that leaves you two as my muscle-bound helpers... Not like I think men are stronger than women, you two men are just stronger than these women. Oh, and Kuzuryuu, so..."

"We can certainly assist," Nekomaru assured her, picking up a hoe, "This will be easy, with my strength developed through my attempts to find the most interesting photographs!"

"Glad to hear it," Mahiru said with a resolute nod, picking up her own as well, "Everybody, get to work! Once we have this all set up, it'll be easier and pretty relaxing to take care of these plants."

"I'm glad!" Mikan said, then started gathering things up to work on making signs with Peko and Fuyuhiko.

It didn't take very long for them to get the things put together, but surprisingly enough, nobody else actually took an especially long time on _their_ jobs, either. Mahiru had done a good job of assigning the jobs to the people best suited for them, and they made good time. They were all finished by about one in the afternoon, still four hours before the festival was going to open up to the rest of them. Everybody sat down on the ground to rest with their jobs completed, quenching their thirst with the same fresh water they'd used to water the plants.

"It feels nice to get active," Mahiru noted, looking around to everybody, "Doesn't it?"

Once the ground was tilled, everybody had come together to put the plants in the ground and water them, so they had all gotten quite sweaty. Even so, Fuyuhiko agreed, "Yeah. I enjoyed this more than I expected to... I don't even like farming simulators as a genre in gaming, but I didn't mind this at all. I'll be even more sore tomorrow, though... Not used to physical activity to this extent."

"Yes, that's understandable," Gundam said, "But think of it this way, brave Kuzuryuu! You've broadened your horizons and not only helped to improve the quality of life on this island, but your own body as well! There's nothing about this which isn't admirable, nothing at all."

"Yes," Fuyuhiko said, "Most of that's true, but it isn't admirable to wake up with every muscle in your body screaming that you were an idiot the previous day."

"If muscles really didn't want to be torn apart like that, then they shouldn't have come with the ability to knit themselves back together," Gundam said, crossing his arms, "No creature comes with a feature that is designed to never be used for good! Admittedly, some features can of course turn on their owners, but you know, that just comes with existence. Nothing exists _only_ to cause harm to its owner."

"The appendix?" Mikan proposed.

Gundam didn't even hesitate to give his response, "Absolutely not! Just because humanity does not grasp the importance of the organ doesn't mean it has none, that's why it isn't simply removed as a routine procedure. The appendix can be used as an important channeling device in high-level cosmic rituals, after all."

"Wow," Peko said, and Fuyuhiko was starting to wonder if her playing along from time to time meant that she actually bought it for some reason, "Why haven't you shared this information? I'm sure people would like to know. Maybe if they were aware of this importance, people would take more care to repair rather than remove a bursting appendix..."

"Well, many don't believe in such things as cosmic power," Gundam explained, "And, even if they were so inclined, nobody would take my word for it. A scientist would have to create a detailed study explaining it, and maybe then the medical world could start to understand."

"Oh, that makes sense," Peko said, then took a deep breath as she stood back up, "Well, we should all get showers before the festival, shouldn't we? Wouldn't want to show up to see everybody's hard work while looking an absolute mess. That would make it seem as if we cared more about our own work than theirs."

"I don't know if that would be the impression they'd get, but yes," Mahiru said, "We should get cleaned up beforehand. Even if you are exaggerating what meaning they'd take away from our arriving sweaty and covered in dirt. You know, I hope there's somewhere to wash our clothes here, there's a lot of copies of my outfit in my closet, but not nearly enough to last me for more than a week, if it ends up being a trend that I use more than one in a day."

"Doesn't it feel weird to change clothes, right into the same clothes you've been wearing all day except cleaner?" Nekomaru asked, "If more of us were actually of a similar size to each other, then perhaps we could remedy that... Well, some of you could, anyway. I obviously can't! I'm much larger than nearly everybody, and I think that Yamaguchi's clothes are actually tailored to flatter his rather unique body shape."

"That's likely, yes," Peko said, "After all, the right clothing can make anybody look good. Not to say he doesn't look good as a base, but the wrong clothing could certainly also make him look bad."

"Well, boring as it is to wear the same clothes over and over," Mikan sighed, "I'm going to get a shower and do just that."


	29. Daily Life: Day Two (Cleaning Up)

Fuyuhiko returned to his room, took a shower, and changed back into a duplicate of his clothing, as expected. He checked the time, then decided that he'd take some time to himself. It didn't seem like anybody would actually be expecting him back, and the Festival wasn't opening up until five. He had a couple of hours, and he was going to spend them recharging. As much as he'd turned out to enjoy the activity, he was still an introvert, and still wasn't the sort to be up for two hugely social events in one day without a complete break from people in between.

It wasn't like there was actually anything that Fuyuhiko could really do when he was alone, but at the same time, he just didn't really need anything to do. Just avoiding people was enough for him to recharge his social batteries after spending the whole morning partaking in the event of _community farming_. He just sat down on his bed and pulled open his Monopad. The thing didn't come with any games or anything, but that didn't mean it couldn't be used to kill time. It seemed like any of the movies which were available on DVD in the market were also available on the Monopad, albeit, this was quite a small screen to watch a movie on, so Fuyuhiko could imagine how going to get a DVD would be preferable. Even so, he found a movie and put it on, propping the Monopad against the headboard of his bed. He didn't just lie around watching it, instead puttering about. Reorganizing stuff in the room, stretching so he wouldn't be as sore the next day (though he didn't know if his ideas of stretching would actually be effective, given how out of his wheelhouse exercising was), but all in all he didn't do anything that took up much of his attention or energy.

Before he knew it, the movie he'd picked was finished, and it was about time that he went down to the festival. When he opened his door, he found himself face-to-face with Nekomaru, who spoke just as loudly as ever, "Kuzuryuu! I was just coming to get you, I wanted to make sure you hadn't fallen asleep. It would be truly unfortunate if any one of us were to miss the festival!"

Fuyuhiko would really like to know why there were so many loud people here. Gundam, Nekomaru, Ibuki... And that was just what he'd witnessed so far, the people who just wouldn't at all quiet down. He wouldn't be surprised if some of the others turned out to also be loud in certain situations, and it was kind of exhausting. He was used to people who yelled, sure, but usually those people had reason to be yelling, and weren't just loud at all times for the sake of it.

"No, I was just taking some time to myself. To recharge, you know? I'm an introvert, after all," Fuyuhiko explained, "Seemingly, unlike most of you."

"I can understand that," Nekomaru said, "But we really should be on our way to the festival now, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed, closing his door behind him, "I mean, that's why I was leaving the room and bumped into you, so, it's kind of obvious that I'd agree, right?"

"Oh, yes, that's true," Nekomaru said, then offered a grin, "Sorry, I'm just very excited! At a festival, I can take so many perfect candids!"

"Well, I hope that you have fun doing that," Fuyuhiko said with a shrug, "But do you think you could maybe be just a little less enthusiastic, ever?"

"Ah! I'm sorry, have you got a headache or some such? I may not have any talents in that area, but may I recommend my own personal home remedy for such things? Mix two parts lime juice to a can of cherry soda. It might sound terrible, but it works wonders!" Nekomaru said.

"No, I don't have a headache, it's just kind of overwhelming with you people yelling all the time," Fuyuhiko said, "And, no offense, but if I did have a headache then I think I'd much rather take my medical advice from the actual Ultimate Nurse that we have, here on this island."

"Ah, good point! I can admit, as a man of many talents, that my home remedies certainly shouldn't count as one of them," Nekomaru said, then started to walk down the hallway, "Come along, then. We'll go to the festival... And, I suppose, I will try to be a bit quieter, for the sake of your sensibilities, Kuzuryuu..."

"My sensibilities? Whatever, thanks I guess," Fuyuhiko mumbled, walking along with Nekomaru out to the lobby of the hotel. Standing in the lobby was Gundam, which surprised Fuyuhiko. The only other guy who'd been on farm duty with them... Fuyuhiko just found it a tiny bit weird, that he would run into both of the other guys, but not any of the four girls who could have still been around. Though, maybe they'd already gone on ahead to the festival.

"Tanaka!" Nekomaru exclaimed at a high volume, but then reduced it, "You are also a generally loud person... And we've been so inconsiderate, our consistent shouting has become overwhelming for some of our friends, especially those who have more indoor inclinations than you and I..."

"Ah, understood," Gundam said, nodding along, "We are both just the slightest bit louder than the standard mortal ears enjoy. It is only those of certain power, such as rock fans and construction workers, who can tolerate such decibels."

"You're making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be, jeeze, I just asked you to quiet down a little," Fuyuhiko complained, "It's not something to be putting thought into like this."

"It's just because we care about your comfort," Nekomaru said, "As, you know, we're _friends_."

Fuyuhiko knew that statement was pointed at him, given that Nekomaru knew about his and Peko's decision to avoid getting close to anybody. He wasn't going to confront him on that right now, though. Not with Gundam right here, who didn't have any idea about that philosophy and might react badly if he did. As an Ultimate Coach, he might say something like 'there's no I in team' and proceed to tell everybody else, leading to the isolation and revilement of both Fuyuhiko and his closest friend. That wouldn't be good. So instead, he just gave Nekomaru a weak smile, "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

"Now that we've settled that matter, I have a question," Gundam said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Have either of you seen any of the valiant maidens who were along for the farming endeavor, since the aforementioned endeavor? I knocked on Lady Nevermind's door, and there was no answer, so I also knocked on Tsumiki's, and Koizumi's, then I came down here to see if you'd heard from them. They could already be at the festival, but, I've been here in the lobby excluding the time I took to shower. Unless they are all very quick at showering, doesn't that seem odd to you...?"


	30. Daily Life: Day Two (Festival)

"That... Does seem strange," Fuyuhiko agreed, furrowing his brow, "But, not too strange, right? If something bad was going to happen to somebody, it would be one or two people, not all four of the girls."

"You're underestimating, suddenly. Seems unlike you," Nekomaru said, frowning, "It's possible that, knowing the others would be vulnerable and everyone else on the island would all be preoccupied, one of the girls attacked the three others. Given the opportunity, if somebody was trying to get away with murder and get us all killed anyway, why not kill three people? There isn't actually a rule against it, but the fact that you thought it wouldn't be three, could throw us off the trail..."

"You're the one being paranoid now," Fuyuhiko said, "There's no way that any of them..."

"You haven't known them very long, they could," Gundam said, "Well, you've known Pekoyama a very long time, but otherwise, you don't know what they'd be capable of."

"Seems to me like you've already gotten attached and you're letting it blind you," Nekomaru said, "Didn't you say you were going to avoid letting that happen? It's not that I blame you, but..."

Fuyuhiko shook his head, "Shut up! I just told you, I _do_ consider you a friend, so isn't it clear that I fucking dropped that? It's impossible to avoid caring about anybody when you're in close quarters like this, and I'm not going to just believe that one of our friends would be so callous as to kill three of our _other_ friends. And that's the closest you're ever going to get to anything dumb and sappy out of me."

"Heh," Nekomaru chuckled, "I knew I could get you to admit it. Come on, let's go to the festival."

"But, what about..." Fuyuhiko trailed off.

"Obviously, I was in on this ploy of friendship," Gundam said, pointing to himself with his thumb, "Upon hearing from Nidai of your stodginess, I could not sit idle! The girls are fine, and will meet us at the festival. We simply conspired to prove to you that you were being unreasonable."

"You're all a bunch of idiots," Fuyuhiko complained, "I was seriously worried for a minute there... You know, just because of what happened here, doesn't mean I wouldn't still suspect anybody here if there was a murder. I just don't think anyone would have the gall to commit _three_ murders."

"Not something you'll have to worry about anyway!" A grating voice sounded out as Monokuma made an appearance, "Now that my attention's been brought to the fact that I totally forgot that rule and all! I'm adding it. The limit on killing is two! One person can kill two others. Now, that's not to say that one person couldn't kill two others, then get killed, bringing the death toll to three, but! Two per person! Cause if ya kill too many people, there ain't nobody left to find you out! And that just isn't fair! Say what you wanna 'bout the Killing Game, but at least it's fair! Equal opportunity killings!"

"Good thing you brought that up, Brave Nidai!" Gundam exclaimed, clapping him on the back, "A truly fortuitous move. It would be incredibly unpleasant if you hadn't said that, and a triple murder somehow did end up occurring. You've saved us from that fate!"

"I didn't mean to, but," Nekomaru burst out laughing, a hearty chuckle, good-natured and truly boisterous, "Would you look at that! Two birds with one stone, I got triple murders banned _and_ made Kuzuryuu admit that he has friends!"

"Yeah, whatever, can we go now?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Awe, and now he's excited for the festival too!" Nekomaru said, "Little grouch is all grown up!"

"Shut up!" Fuyuhiko protested, then began walking away from the both of them, "I'm not excited, I just want an excuse to ditch you losers... Playing a trick on me like that, I can't fucking believe you. I just wanna meet back up with Peko."

"Whatever you say," Nekomaru said, the laughter still tinging his voice. As annoyed as Fuyuhiko was, he somehow couldn't help but feel like his mood was lightened at least a little bit by Nekomaru's laugh. Something about it just made him feel a little bit more joyful than he otherwise would have been. Maybe there was something to the saying that laughter was contagious, but clearly, only certain strains of laughter. And that was one that Nekomaru clearly seemed to possess.

Fuyuhiko approached the festival location of the island, along with Gundam and Fuyuhiko, and found himself quite surprised at the sight. It wasn't like he didn't expect that they'd be able to pull it off, but he didn't quite know that he was expecting them to pull it off _this_ well. They did a great job, making the place look really alive with more booths and pop-ups than the Ultimate Students could ever hope to actually man. As it was, only two had actually people in them; Akane's food stand, and Souda's infirmary booth. Even so, the rest of the empty ones gave off the impression of a real festival. The old hotel building was being used mainly just for its bathrooms, with all the nice stuff outside.

And, there was the stage, of course. Hiyoko probably contributed to that, also, getting a whole, lightly raised stage built in the middle of the festival, for those who had volunteered to perform. Fuyuhiko was in awe of all of it, though, he wasn't actually about to admit that. Instead, he just walked up to Akane's booth first, deciding not to completely immerse himself in it all just yet, "Hey, Owari. What have you got going on here?"

"All the typical festival foods! Takoyaki, Dango, Taiyaki, you name something from a festival and I have probably got it!" Akane said, grinning at him, "How was farming today, huh?"

"Actually, kind of satisfying," Fuyuhiko admitted, "Also, I've never actually been to a festival in my life, so I can't exactly say I know what the typical festival foods are, but... I'll take one of each? Working all day gave me an appetite."

"Now that's the kinda thing I like to hear!" Akane proclaimed.

"You've... Never been to a festival before? That's sad, even I've been to a festival," A familiar voice said, and Fuyuhiko turned his head to see Sonia standing there... Dressed in a dark green yukata, with a pink sakura pattern? "But that also means you've never seen a girl in her festival yukata before! No matter if you've thought about being attracted to girls before or not, you have to admit, right? We look so incredibly beautiful, it would instill hope in anybody to see us!"

"Us?" Fuyuhiko questioned, then noticed that the others who'd worked on the farm stepped out as well. Peko's was in dark blue and black, her usual colors. Mikan's was pink, with small white bunnies dancing along the lining and the obi. Mahiru's was a coral color, which brought out the red in her hair. Fuyuhiko was impressed, but more than that, "Uh. Okay. How did you... Get those?"


	31. Daily Life: Day Two (Monomi)

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure," Peko admitted, holding a hand to her cheek, "I showered, and when I left, there was this kimono on the bed with a note that I should wear it to the festival. It looked kind of like Monokuma would have written it, and I couldn't imagine who else would have, so I didn't think I should disobey..."

"Why would you even want to disobey, though?" Sonia asked, "After all, these are so nice... It's exactly what I would have picked out for myself at a shop, if I had the chance!"

"I'm kind of jealous," Akane said, leaning over her booth, "You do look real cute! But, then again, I guess it might be kind of hard to cook festival food in a yukata myself. I have no experience with that sort of thing, unlike festival regulars, I would probably end up catching my sleeve on fire!"

"But you know who's jealous and actually has the right to be?" Someone interrupted from behind the girls, and they turned to see Ibuki, "Ibuki is! Me, Ibuki! I can do gymnastics in a yukata, and it's a total moron who thinks I can't! Plus, Saionji is done with her work for the day, and Ikusaba's just gonna do backup for Hinata! Ibuki says, it's not fair. Every girl deserves to wear a yukata to a festival! You know what? Even a girl who'd catch the yukata on fire deserves to have one!"

"If you say so..." A voice that none of them recognized called out, and a yukata fell onto Ibuki's face. It was in pink and light blue, just like her current outfit. Moments later, a creature resembling a pale pink rabbit made an appearance, standing in the middle of the festival path, "But if anybody doesn't want to wear it, you don't have to! I just thought that you should have something nice to attend the festival in, since everybody on the island worked so hard today!"

"Who the fuck are you?" Fuyuhiko asked it.

"Uuhh... I'm actually not quite sure! I was supposed to be in charge of your trip to these islands, but I got all scrambled up and couldn't even make an appearance until now," The bunny explained, "And it seems like I don't really have any power now, but I can at least improve your quality of life a little bit!"

"Upupu!" Monokuma arrived to resolve the situation, "Hey there bitch! How'd you get outta the basement? Damn, you're persistent! I guess I can let it slide though," It explained, then waved its arms around to everybody standing there, "Folks, this is my cute baby sister Monomi! She's such a softie, she'll probably do any trivial little nice thing that you could think of asking... But don't expect her to be around very often or nothing!"

"But I wanna be around often..." Monomi complained.

"Just be glad I'm letting you be around at all, you damn brat!" Monokuma scolded, "And you went ahead and... Gave all these girls..." It trailed off as it stared at them, "Hot damn Monomi, nice work!"

"I'm not sure how I feel about being objectified by a teddy bear," Mahiru said, crossing her arms wqith a grimace across her face, "How old are you, even?"

"However old you want me to be!" Monokuma said, raising its paw in the air, "Age is just a number! If she can bleed, she can breed!"

"I sure fucking wish it wasn't against the rules to-" Fuyuhiko started, only to take a step back in surprise as Gundam, in one fluid motion, moved into range and kicked Monokuma, flinging the bear onto the roof of one of the pop-ups. There was a huge hole in its body, but it turned its head.

"You broke the rule against attacking the Headmaster!" Monokuma exclaimed, "But, I guess that I can't just punish you for the very first rule-breaking incident. You might not even know that rule yet! But if you could just take out your frustrations on your immortal headmaster, why would you ever murder each other? It's a very important rule... Ugh, here we go. I'll just give you a little bit of punishment, and I'll punish Monomi for escaping too, while I'm at it! So, here we go. Monomi! Break the leg that bastard kicked me with!"

"Wh... What?" Monomi asked, seeming to sweat despite sweating going against her bunny appearance, her plushie appearance, and the fact she was a robot all at once, "No way! I can't hurt the students! I can't interfere like that!"

"I say you can, so you can," Monokuma said, "I'm the one in charge now, remember?"

Monomi hesitated, shifting between her feet, obviously unwilling to do as she was commanded.

"No... I broke the rule, and although it was in defense of the honor of fair maidens, Monokuma is showing me mercy by reducing the punishment," Gundam admitted, kneeling down and holding a hand out toward Monomi, "I'll place no blame on you for the act, virtuous Monomi."

Fuyuhiko stared on in awe, and with newfound respect for Gundam. He'd wanted to, but known it was a bad idea to attack Monokuma, and Gundam had done it without any hesitation at all as soon as Monokuma started being disrespectful. There was definitely a difference between when Monokuma insulted everybody, than when Monokuma turned its crudeness specifically on a handful of the girls, and even more specifically, on Mahiru, who was quite cute but whose appearance was certainly not the first, or even one of the top three things to find impressive about her by comparison. Monokuma _did_ cross a line, slightly more than usual, and Gundam didn't even think before shutting that down. Even if it was at his own expense.

"I'm so sorry, Tanaka," Monomi whined as she drew back one arm, then hit Gundam's 'kicking leg' with all the power that her little robot body could muster for a task that she didn't want to do. There was the definite sound of a fracture, but at least it wasn't a full break, and she took a deep breath before speaking again, "Kazuichi has a first aid tent here, right? You guys should take him there. I shouldn't have come here, so I'm going to leave before I get anybody else hurt..."

And just as swiftly as she'd arrived, Monomi was gone, leaving behind yukatas and a broken leg.


	32. Daily Life: Day Two (Return To Normal?)

Mahiru and Nekomaru helped to take Gundam to the infirmary booth, giving Fuyuhiko and the girls a halfhearted command to go and enjoy themselves anyway. Ibuki was the first to break the tense silence that hung between them, holding out the yukata which had been dropped on her head, "Ibuki is going to the bathroom to change, and her spectacular drop-dead beauty will put all of you to shame."

It was an attempt to lighten the mood, and it didn't really work very well, but Ibuki did run off to the restroom. Fuyuhiko turned to Akane, who'd witnessed that whole thing from behind her booth, "Hey, Owari..."

"I can't believe," Akane mumbled, staring down at one of her deep-fryers, "Violence from Monokuma? I mean, I thought that if we were good to each other, then we would be fine, right? But..."

"Tanaka broke a rule," Fuyuhiko said, "So he got punished for that. It's not like Monokuma just attacked him out of nowhere... Though it did provoke him. Maybe it's just trying to get our blood boiling."

"Maybe," Akane said, "Now that's a dirty tactic! Anyway, um, I really would just catch the sleeves on fire, so I'm not going to wear the yukata that Monomi gave me. Maybe you could see if one of the guys would actually want to wear it, though? Maybe Komaeda could spice up his usual outfit, or something! Yukatas aren't just for ladies!"

"That's a good idea," Sonia said, then held her arms out, "Hand it over to me, I'll ask around if any of the guys would like it!"

"Don't you wanna eat something first?" Akane asked.

Sonia shook her head, "No, not yet. I'll come back for some food after I ask around. I'm very hungry, but I should give others the chance to get their meals first, shouldn't I?"

"I don't think-" Akane started to protest, but Sonia had already snatched her Yukata and run off with it. Akane sighed, scratched her cheek, then put together a plate of 'one of everything' and passed it toward Fuyuhiko, "Well, at least you'll try my food while it's still fresh and hot!"

"Fresh and Hot, just like the chef?" Teruteru suddenly arrived.

"You betcha!" Akane said, not even flinching at his awkward attempts at flirting, "Hanamura! What would you like, huh? I got just about anything you can think of having at a festival."

"Deep fried foods... Are my vice," Teruteru said, "What have you got for me in that category?"

"Have I ever," Akane said, "Name a seafood, or chicken, and I've got it fried and on a stick! What sort of festival food stand would I be without at _least_ some yakitori?"

"Awesome!" Teruteru exclaimed, "I'll have a few sticks... Surprise me with what!"

"I mean, as soon as you see them you'll know what they are, but sure," Akane said, shrugging, then glanced back to Fuyuhiko, "By the way, for your 'one of each' I did just give you one of the meats on a stick, you can come back for more if you really are hungry enough for that much!"

"Yeah, sure thing," Fuyuhiko said, then walked over to Peko, "Hey, so, how was your afternoon?"

"I just spent it relaxing," Peko said, "I'm not used to spending time doing nothing, but, I'm also not used to spending my entire morning on hard labor."

"Same here," Fuyuhiko said, starting to eat off his paper plate where he stood, "Though, I _am_ used to spending time alone, more than I've gotten since I've been here... That's nothing against you or anything, Peko, it's just, being social in general."

"You don't have to keep assuring me that things aren't my fault," Peko said, "I know you well enough by now to infer that, don't you think?"

"I don't think that anyone knows me well enough to infer anything," Fuyuhiko said, "But if anybody, it's you."

"Mm," Peko agreed, "I'm going to get some food, then we should find somewhere to sit by the stage, don't you think? And you know, I wish I'd known this yukata was a gift from Monomi, and not required. I have to say, I'm not actually a fan of the style... Even compared to what I usually wear, it seems stiff."

"Well," Fuyuhiko shrugged, "It looks nice, at least?"

"I suppose it does," Peko admitted, then walked up to the food stand. In the meantime, Mikan stepped closer to Fuyuhiko.

"H-Hey, um, Kuzuryuu?" Mikan asked, wringing her hands in front of herself, "Do you think that maybe you could help me out with something?"

"What is it, Tsumiki?" Fuyuhiko asked, his words a bit harsh but his tone not at all.

Mikan fumbled with a pocket on the side of her yukata for a moment, then held a small hard candy out to him, "I found this in my pocket, and I can't figure out what it is. Ah, I thought that, I heard that gamers eat a lot of different snack foods, so maybe you'd know what this is?"

"I mean, that's fair," Fuyuhiko said, taking the candy and turning it over in his hand, examining it, "But I don't recognize this at all. It looks kind of like a werther's, but..." The colors were very different. Pink, with a red stripe down the middle. He sighed and closed his hand over it, "I have no clue, but since you found it in that yukata, I wouldn't eat it... I don't trust that bitch Monomi one bit."

"I mean..." Mikan mumbled, "I thought she was kind of nice, but she's related to Monokuma, right? So we really can't believe her if she says that she's on our side. Even if we could really use somebody with some amount of authority on our side..."

"Hey, Kuzu," Peko got his attention again, walking back over with a plate almost entirely full of chocolate-covered bananas, with three singular pieces of takoyaki on the side, "Shall we find a seat?"

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko said, shoving the hard candy he'd investigated into his pocket without a second thought, "See you at the show, Tsumiki?"

"Yes, I'll be over soon," She confirmed, waving to them, "See you then!"


	33. Daily Life: Day Two (Reasoning)

Fuyuhiko and Peko wandered over toward the stage, and sat down on one of the benches set up in front of it. Yamaguchi was standing up on the stage at the moment, and greeted them both, "Hey, welcome! The first performance is going to be at six, so feel free to just relax until then. How was the farming?"

"It went well," Peko answered, lifting one of her chocolate-covered bananas, "Very well, actually. We got everything replanted, and now they just need to be watered and weeded daily, which anybody can do. It'll be a nice activity!"

"That's wonderful news," Yamaguchi said, "As you can see, things went very well here too. I'm glad that our endeavors worked so well."

"Well," Peko said, "It's not all great. Tanaka broke the rule against attacking Monokuma, and had his leg broken by Monomi. Ah... Monomi is Monokuma's 'little sister', she looks like him but a pink and white rabbit instead of a black and white bear. She gave us these yukatas, showed up, then got forced by Monokuma to break Tanaka's leg after the rule breaking."

"I get the feeling that may not be the easiest rule to remember to follow," Yamaguchi sighed, "Well, at least Tanaka wasn't killed."

"Yeah, that's true," Fuyuhiko mumbled, "I guess it was kind of _nice_ of Monokuma, not to kill him when it said that breaking the rules would result in death. Giving us one warning."

"It's good that we were able to get fair warning," Peko said, "Tanaka wasn't thinking when he did that, and as Monokuma said, it's possible he didn't even know the rule yet. Witnessing the consequences that he ended up facing, though, I would assume that everybody will remember the rule more clearly from this point forward."

"Yes, that's true," Yamaguchi said, "Monokuma seems to be using familiar tactics. Killing anybody for crossing you just once, that's a little bit worthless. It's better to put some fear into them with an injury, so that if you have a use for them, you don't lose that just because they've misbehaved one time."

"An absolutely brutal, but effective method," Peko observed, pointing at Yamaguchi with her banana, "Especially brutal, however, in Monokuma's case... After all, its 'use' for Tanaka is for him to kill or be killed in this twisted game."

"This is true," Yamaguchi said, stepping down from the stage to sit backwards on one of the flat benches, facing Fuyuhiko and Peko, "I would never dream of doing such a thing... Keeping somebody alive just so that they can die some other way is worse. If somebody who truly served no other purpose to me was insubordinate, I would either cut them loose entirely or have them killed."

"Of course," Peko said, "Depending on which is the greater mercy, correct?"

"Obviously, I'm not a monster," Yamaguchi said, "Some people who have lived out their usefulness can't even stand a chance at happiness, while others have moved on to form blood families they would be more loyal to than the one we once shared, for example. If somebody useless to me has something to live for and makes a mistake, I'll fire them."

"This conversation is so fucking beyond me right now," Fuyuhiko muttered, mostly to himself.

"They are being kind of self-important with such talk, aren't they?" Nagito's voice distracted him, and he turned to see that he had somehow now even noticed Nagito sitting down right next to him, close enough to speak in a conspiratory whisper, "Some of us have never had lackeys that we needed to fire or kill on a whim! How does it feel seeing your best friend have a conversation where she completely understands a mob boss's decisions to have certain people murdered?"

"Not that weird," Fuyuhiko said, "I kind of came to terms with that sort of thing about the same time I came to terms with her being a princess."

"Admirable," Nagito said, then sat up straight and returned to a normal volume, "Anyhow, I'm actually going to be performing first, but I thought that I'd mingle and have a light snack first. Nothing too heavy, though, I do need to be light on my feet! Mioda is next, and Hinata is last because we all agreed that my act is a good opener for a festival, and his is better after the sun's more thoroughly set."

"That makes sense," Fuyuhiko noted, "After seeing what you guys set up for the environment, I'm actually kind of excited to see what sort of crazy bullshit you can pull off with the performances."

"Well, I'm not sure I'd call it crazy bullshit!" Nagito said with a nervous chuckle, "We'll be doing our best, of course, but without the usual budget, support, you know, the actual performances will be quite standard."

"Well it's not like I'm expecting special effects or anything, but, you know. These are your Ultimate Talents. I'm bound to be impressed," Fuyuhiko explained, "Actually, I also want to see if Hinata's backup singers crash and burn trying to keep up with him. They do have very unrelated talents."

"They do! Hanamura and Ikusaba... Someone with a bad case of foot in mouth might even call the two of them talentless! Of course, I recognize their talents as legitimate," Nagito said, "All talents, to me, are admirable... To others, though, there might be some debate."

"That's true," Fuyuhiko admitted, "But it shouldn't be, right? Luck, and schoolwork, those are impressive talents... I mean, shit, I'd love to have either of those as a talent. More _useful_ to a normal life than my talent is, anyway."

"Ah, Kuzuryuu? You didn't strike me as the type to be bitter about your talent. Bitter about anything else, surely, but you should be proud of your talent if you're such a grouch. You hate other people, so you shouldn't hate yourself-"

"Whoa there," Fuyuhiko interrupted, "I never said I hate anybody! I don't hate you guys, and I don't hate myself either. I just think that being good at video games isn't a practical talent. Doesn't mean I don't think I'm good at it... Fucking Hell, do you always jump to conclusions that quickly?"

"Yes," Nagito said, shrugging, "False conclusions and hyperbole are basically what I build my entire personality on!"

"I see," Fuyuhiko said, "Well, then I _might_ end up hating you, specifically."

"No, no! See, I start off pretty annoying, but over time they all learn to love me," Nagito said, "So if you do hate me, it'll be short-lived."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Fuyuhiko said.

"Oh, you'll see it," Nagito said, then stood back up, "I should go prepare. The show is starting soon!"

And then, he was gone with just as little fanfare as he'd arrived.


	34. Daily Life: Day Two (Hiyoko's Yukata)

Soon after Nagito left Fuyuhiko's presence, others started arriving to get their seats for the shows. Since their show was on last, Mukuro (now in a lovely but somehow unfitting pale purple kimono), Hajime, and Teruteru got seats. Ibuki was nowhere to be seen, probably off preparing. Hiyoko stole the seat Nagito had vacated next to Fuyuhiko, and Souda came in on her other side. Wait, Souda? Fuyuhiko leaned past Hiyoko to get his attention, "What are you doing here, Kazuichi? Where's Tanaka?"

"Well," Souda said, "He's resting. I splinted his leg and gave him some painkillers, but the downside of those was that they basically knocked him out. He's kind of too delirious to enjoy a performance right now, and he said if anyone came by the booth looking for me he'd tell them I was at the show, so I didn't have to miss it."

"What a great guy," Hiyoko said, then pushed Fuyuhiko back out of her way, and as she did so he observed that she was still in her overalls, "What's going on with him, though? What's wrong with his leg?"

"He got it broken by another robot that wasn't Monokuma, as a first strike punishment for kicking Monokuma onto a roof," Fuyuhiko explained, "That other robot is named Monomi and she's Monokuma's 'little sister' and it forced her to break his leg, also she says that she has basically no authority but she wants to try and improve our quality of life and she gave everybody the yukatas."

"Oh, so that's where that came from," Hiyoko said, "I just dumped it in the bathroom, I didn't wanna wear something like that!"

"Charming as ever," Fuyuhiko observed, "Don't you think you would have looked cute in it?"

"Of course I would have! I look cute in anything I wear!" Hiyoko protested, "But a long dress with tight legs and big flowy sleeves? Nobody could ever get anything done in that!"

"Mioda said she could do gymnastics in one," Fuyuhiko said, looking up at the sky now, "So I think that's just an excuse."

"An excuse for _what_?" Hiyoko questioned.

Fuyuhiko smirked, "The fact that your yukata was too big for you?"

"Well," Hiyoko pouted, turning away and mumbling, "It's not like it's _my fault_ that this Monomi chick doesn't know what size I am..."

"That's sad," Souda said, frowning, "So you'd want to wear one of these yukatas that all the girls got, but you can't?"

"I never said that!" Hiyoko snipped, "It doesn't matter that it didn't fit me, cause yukatas are dumb!"

"...I could make it fit you," Mukuro spoke up from a few benches back, "If you got it to me, it would only take about fifteen minutes to make size adjustments."

"Fifteen minutes? Are you for real? I don't exactly sew, but I'm pretty sure that a fifteen minute adjustment is sort of an Ultimate Talent level thing, and that's with a sewing machine, which definitely isn't anywhere here," Hiyoko said, "Forgive me if I think you're inflating your abilities a little, Miss Ultimate Luck!"

"I'm not inflating them, I can do it," Mukuro said, "You said that you left your yukata in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, the one in the old building over there," Hiyoko said, "If you really wanna try it, I guess I'll wear it... Just cause, if you can actually pull it off, it'd be super rude not to accept it after you put hard work into it! That's a line I just won't cross! Disrespecting somebody's work goes against my principles. And that's the only reason I'd wear it if you did modify it."

"Okay," Mukuro said, then stood up, giving a resolute nod with her usual sleepy look replaced with some kind of determination, "I'm doing you a real favor, revealing my special move like this, but I know that it will make you happy, even if you act like it won't... So I'll do it," With that, she wandered off, moving quickly but still with the wobbly gait as if she might pass out at any given moment, in the direction of the old hotel building to retrieve Hiyoko's yukata.

"Dammit," Hiyoko muttered under her breath.

"Wait, did you seriously not want it?" Souda asked.

"No, I mean," Hiyoko rolled her eyes, "Okay, so I do! With my talent, I don't get to wear cute clothes very often and I was super disappointed it didn't fit me, but... Come on, Ikusaba was such an easy target to make fun of, but now she's being all _nice_."

"That's what's bothering you?" Souda questioned, chuckling a bit, "You're disappointed because you can't be mean to her anymore? That's kind of adorable. More proof that you are experiencing the dreaded emotional growth, right?"

"Shut up," Hiyoko said, punching him in the arm, "You're teasing me but it doesn't even sound like your heart's in it! I'm gonna teach you tomorrow how to actually make fun of somebody, okay?"

"What? Okay," Souda said, recoiling a tiny bit, "That's weird, but I guess I'd appreciate the lesson? Not like that's a skill I'd usually seek, but how can I turn down the opportunity to hang out with a total cutie?"

" _Stop_!" Hiyoko whined.

"Am I really bad at making fun of people, or are you just mad that I know how to tease you?" Souda continued.

"...Maybe you do know how, but still. Just cause you're using the words doesn't mean you have the right attitude," Hiyoko said, crossing her arms, "You sound dumb and lackluster. That's what I'll be teaching you about."

"Right, that makes sense," Souda said.

"Hey," Fuyuhiko said, "Do you think that Ikusaba will really be able to make those modifications as quickly as she said?"

"No," Mukuro's voice suddenly sounded out in its dulcet, barely-conscious tone, "Faster. It's been what, twenty minutes? And it took me about ten to get over there and find the thing. Turns out that Sonia took it for safekeeping, cause a yukata doesn't belong on the floor of a bathroom... Here you go, Saionji."

Hiyoko took the article from Mukuro, turning it over in her hands and staring at it, "I... Wow, you really did make it my size..."

"Do you want help putting it on?" Mukuro asked, "It can be a little confusing if you've never worn one, I think..."

"...Sure. Thanks," Hiyoko said, standing up from the bench to follow Mukuro so she could get dressed.


	35. Daily Life: Day Two (Look Your Age)

Hiyoko and Mukuro soon returned, and took their seats again just in time for the beginning of Nagito's performance. Somebody, likely Hiyoko, had at least found a speaker, which played out background music for Nagito's dance. It was impressive, even when Fuyuhiko didn't actually know anything about traditional dance. Mahiru seemed especially interested in it though, and clapped at random times. Fuyuhiko had to assume that was because she recognized certain steps as difficult ones to pull off. Yamaguchi looked impressed as well, but wasn't about to make a fool of himself by clapping in the middle of a performance. Likely, he was used to being one of the only ones not doing such a thing, in order to maintain a dignified image.

Nagito bowed after about half an hour of performance, during which time Fuyuhiko didn't think he actually did the exact same thing twice. He supposed that was what made him the _Ultimate_ Traditional Dancer, after all. A whole half an hour of unique choreography that even held the interest of people who didn't know a thing about that form of entertainment, and usually wouldn't have even cared. After his bow, Nagito announced, "We'll be having a half hour intermission to clear your cultural palates before Ibuki Mioda takes the stage! Take this time to discuss, get more food when Owari briefly returns to her booth, or whatever you would like to do so that you're just as prepared to appreciate her hard work."

With that, he left the stage, and Fuyuhiko turned to Peko, "You didn't really eat anything substantial earlier, so do you want to go and get something else?"

"No, I'm alright," Peko said, shrugging, "Truth be told, I didn't really like most of the options... It seems that Japanese Festival Food just isn't my sort of thing. Fried food in general, I don't tend to like much. I'm not sure why."

"Understandable," Fuyuhiko said, then turned back to see Hajime and his backup singers standing up, "Heading to get ready?"

"Yeah," Hajime said, "Mioda missed Komaeda's show to prepare, so unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to miss hers for the same reason. Need to get in the right mindset and all if we're going to impress you."

"Good luck impressing us with those two as your backup," Hiyoko snarked, though due to her gratitude to Mukuro, it wasn't nearly as nasty as she usually would have made a comment like that.

"Thanks," Hajime said, completely negating her insult by taking it at face value, then walking off followed by Mukuro and Teruteru before Hiyoko could even try her hand at a poignant offense.

"Rude," Hiyoko observed.

Fuyuhiko disregarded that and took another look around, noting where everybody was. Souda took the intermission to go and check on Gundam, Akane to fire up her food booth again. Mahiru moved to sit closer to Yamaguchi, talking in an animated fashion about how well Nagito had done. Sonia had, a few minutes into the show, taken a seat between Nekomaru and Mikan, and the three of them now seemed to be chatting amongst themselves. Fuyuhiko couldn't hear what about. He turned his attention, then, back to the people who were actually next to him, "Well, I'm going to get some more food anyway."

"I'll go with you," Hiyoko said, standing up immediately, "I didn't actually eat anything earlier, and I love taiyaki..."

"I'll save the seats," Peko said, smiling in their direction, "I'm glad that you're able to appreciate the food. Owari's cooking truly is spectacular, but even she couldn't make me like festival fare."

"Nobody care about your tastes," Hiyoko said, sticking her tongue out right back in her direction, "Festival food is good and that's that."

"Let's go, Saionji," Fuyuhiko said with a slight chuckle, for some reason feeling very awkward when his newfound friend and rival in insults turned her fury on his long-time best friend. Once they were a bit further away from the stage, he spoke to her again, "So, it's a good thing that Ikusaba was able to fix your yukata. It _does_ suit you."

Hiyoko's had the appearance of being a solid yellow, with a dark green obi, until one looked closer and saw that the yellow was actually patterned like a field of marigolds. He also noted that what he thought were buttons on her overalls seemed to be pins instead, as she'd taken one and used it as a brooch with the kimono. She fiddled with it as she answered him, "You really think so? I mean, it's kind of a mature look, isn't it? Don't you think that a certified loli like me would look nicer in a school uniform or something cutesy like that?"

"I dunno," Fuyuhiko said, shrugging, "Maybe it's because I'm short too, but I don't really think that you look like a child just because you're small. The overalls and the pigtails together sort of make you look ten years old, but the way you're dressed now? You kind of almost look your age. Still got those fucking pigtails working against you, though."

"You think so?" Hiyoko asked, then stopped walking for a moment and reached up, pulling out her hairties to let her hair hang, albeit a bit strangely as it tried to retain the shape, around her shoulders, "So, what about this? Do I look like a seventeen year old now?"

"Yeah, you kinda do," Fuyuhiko said, "Maybe just fifteen, but you look older than _me_ at least."

"Well," Hiyoko tilted her head, "Like you just did for me, I'll admit, your outfit doesn't do you any favors in that department! Dressing like a gamer, I know it's your talent, but it kind of makes you seem like you aren't even willing to grow up or anything."

"I'd still look like a little kid, even if I wore a full suit," Fuyuhiko griped, lifting one hand and rubbing his chin, "I can't even grow a beard."

"You don't need a beard to look like a grown man," Hiyoko said, grinning with her eyes still pointed away, "I mean, Hinata wears eyeliner and he still looks like an adult! And what an adult that guy is."

"You like that guy?" Fuyuhiko asked.

Hiyoko shrugged, "Dunno, but I _am_ seventeen, especially since I nearly look it right now! I know when people are attractive, and he is, don't you think?"

"...Okay, yeah," Fuyuhiko admitted, "I guess so. What do you think I should do to look more grown-up, if Hinata is able to do it while wearing eyeliner?"

"Outfit," Hiyoko said, "Already said that. But also, I guess, you've just got so _much_ baby-face going on. That widow's peak just shows it off! Bangs, or something that covers one or both of your eyes like sunglasses, that'd help, probably. Not like I know what I'm talking about, but..."

"But quid pro quo," Fuyuhiko joked, "I tell you how to look your age, you tell me how to look mine, it's genuine advice and making fun of each other all at once."

"It is," Hiyoko said, "It's kinda fun to hang out with you, I gotta say."

"Same to you."


	36. Daily Life: Day Two (Piece of Shit)

Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko arrived at Akane's food booth, and she greeted them both, "Hey! Back for more, Kuzuryuu? And, you didn't have any earlier, did you, Saionji... You like this stuff? I could always try and whip up something else if you're picky."

“I’m not picky,” Hiyoko said, “I was just feeling kind of sick earlier. That’s the truth, too! Even though inventing stuff is what I love to do, I feel all queasy for hours after I complete a working invention. It’s really annoying…”

“Why would something like that happen?” Akane asked, “Do you think that Kazuichi could diagnose it for you, or something?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hiyoko said, “Come on… Can I have some taiyaki, and we can stop talking about dumb stuff like that?”

"Okay," Akane said, "Any preference on flavor?"

"How many different flavors do you have?" Hiyoko asked.

"Red bean, chocolate, and strawberry jam," Akane answered.

"Give me... Two of each," Hiyoko said, "I really like taiyaki."

"Jeeze," Akane said, "For small people, the two of you eat a Hell of a lot, don't you? You're gonna give me a run for my money!"

"I wouldn't say we eat a lot," Fuyuhiko said, seeing the flash of legitimate anger in Hiyoko's eyes, something he had somehow already figured out how to do, "Just that we both had really busy days, and we need to replenish our energy."

"Yeah! You think that I keep this trim figure by stuffing my face like a pig? Like you and Tsumiki?" Hiyoko said, leaning forward with her fists held out near her shoulders, "I care about my appearance! But I can indulge every so often, can't I?"

"I wasn't trying to be rude or anything," Akane said, "It was just an observation, you know?"

"An observation?" Hiyoko questioned, then switched her pose and voice entirely to condescend instead, "Clearly, you have never actually been involved in the world of girls... Any comments about the consumption of food from one girl to another is seen at all times as an invitation to an all-out war, no holds barred, such a mortifying insult can clearly only mean a burning hatred between the girl and her poor, pig-called victim."

"That's a dumb rule to have! I'm glad I've never been involved in the world of girls, if it's so volatile..." Akane said, then handed over the requested six taiyaki, "Well, I hope that you enjoy these, even if I did accidentally insult you and therefore deserve an insult in return!"

"Anyway," Fuyuhiko butted in, "Could I have a few more sticks of karaage? I'm still hungry."

"Of course!" Akane said, chuckling, "It's a good thing that I'm so friendly. If the person providing you food cared about your bad attitudes, you'd probably starve!"

"My attitude's not bad, it's a survival instinct," Fuyuhiko said, "You try _not_ having an attitude when you play online games, and then we can talk about letting us starve."

Akane laughed again, holding out the food for Fuyuhiko, "I would never! I don't care about that kind of stuff, and it's not like you're really a huge dick or anything. Just kind of an asshole, and I mean, I've dealt with way worse! If you were actually terrible, then I'd tell you so... But, I'd probably feed you anyway, cause I'm not about to deny my food to anybody! I love it when people eat my food, even if it turns out that they're just the worst, most horrible type of people."

"Well, good to know that we wouldn't starve even if we did something really despicable," Hiyoko said, then rolled her eyes, "Not like we'd live long enough to starve anyway, if we did it openly enough for you to find out about it. Either that terrible thing's a murder and we're boned, or it's some other thing that the righteous among us would be willing to kill over! I mean, seriously. You think that if it wasn't just for fun, like if I said something mean to really mess someone up, I wouldn't get killed by like, Tanaka, or Koizumi?"

"I dunno," Akane said, "I guess, maybe. If it was something _really_ bad. I still don't think that they'd kill you, though. I mean, then they'd get killed too, so is it really worth it to teach somebody a lesson?"

Hiyoko shrugged, starting to walk away with her taiyaki, "Well, maybe it would be, I think. Monokuma won't punish anyone for doing something like that! Somebody's bound to take it on themselves to do it instead, yeah?"

"Uh, bye, Owari," Fuyuhiko muttered to her before dashing to catch back up with Hiyoko, "Saionji, that's some dumb fucking shit you're spouting!"

"Huh? I mean, I'm not saying I'd do something like that. What the fuck do I care if somebody does something unpleasant?" Hiyoko asked, "People only get revenge for others if they're hung up on some dumb fucking idea of what it means to be a good person. I don't care what other people do to other people."

"You don't?" Fuyuhiko asked, "Damn, Saionji. Even I get mad when I see someone being attacked for no reason."

Hiyoko shrugged, "I can't do that . I mean, I really can't! If I bothered thinking about the way that other people screwed over people other than me, then I never would've got to where I am now. Being a tiny little girl working in a mechanic shop, what makes you think I could afford to care if the other mechanics overcharged or anything? It's all just fucking dumb, you don't need to care about that sort of stuff if you just harden your brain against it and all."

"Well, maybe I don't want to do that," Fuyuhiko said, "I kind of like giving a shit when people are real assholes, you know, at least telling them to knock it off?"

"It's more effective just to be an asshole back, and I only pick on people metaphorically my own size," Hiyoko said, "If any of you were actually fucking threatening to me, then I'd keep my distance!"

"You really are a piece of shit, aren't you?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"I am," Hiyoko giggled, "But you already said that you like hanging out with this piece of shit, so what does that say about you?"

"Guess it says that I'm also kind of a piece of shit," Fuyuhiko admitted, "Let's get back to the stage before you drag me down to your level, though."


	37. Daily Life: Day Two (Amazing)

Upon getting back to the stage area, Fuyuhiko left his food with Peko, then wandered over to where Sonia was sitting with Nekomaru and Mikan. He stood behind the three of them, "Hey guys."

"Ah, hello, Kuzuryuu!" Mikan exclaimed, turning in her seat and pressing her hands together, "Sorry to bother you about this more, but have you figured out anything else about that strange candy?"

"Strange candy?" Sonia asked.

"Yes, I found it in the pocket of my yukata," Mikan explained, and at her words, Sonia reached into her own pocket, coming up with an identical one.

"Huh, there's one in mine too," She observed, then slipped it right back in her pocket, "Maybe it's just a courtesy candy from Monomi... Or maybe, it's something Monokuma slipped in there. I won't take my chances with something like that, no way."

"That was the conclusion we came to, yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed.

"What could actually be dangerous about a cute little candy, though?" Nekomaru asked, "It just looks delicious, like it's berry flavored or something like that."

"It could be poison, or specifically designed to make us choke on it, or all sorts of terrible things..." Mikan whined, clasping her hands in front of herself, "It's really scary to think about! Monokuma wants us to kill each other or to die so everything can be dangerous..."

"You're probably being paranoid!" Sonia said, reaching out and putting one hand on Mikan's shoulder, "I mean, it's good to be cautious, but don't let it get you down! Don't be scared of things that probably won't happen. That'll just make you really sad and stressed out."

"Oh, right, I guess that it would," Mikan said, taking a few deep breaths as she tried to calm down from her moments of panic, "Besides, as long as we don't actually eat the candies, they can't do anything to us, right? It really isn't something to worry about, as long as we know there could be a danger and we avoid the method of being endangered..."

"Exactly," Sonia said, "So, what's the harm of these just, _existing_?"

Mikan nodded, then turned back towards the stage, "I'm looking forward to seeing what Mioda comes up with..."

"I as well!" Nekomaru exclaimed, "I got lots of wonderful photos during Komaeda's performance, not just of his dance, but of the enthusiastic reactions Koizumi was giving to it! Hopefully, I can get just as many quality photographs for my island scrapbook during Mioda's show, and Hinata's afterward. Have I mentioned yet that if it were possible to have two Ultimate Talents, I would also be the Ultimate Scrapbooker?"

"Yeah, once or twice," Fuyuhiko said.

"You should take some pictures of Pom-Pom sometime..." Mikan said, her voice very small and nervous, "I think that I'd like to be able to see her all of the time, even when the temperature's not right to keep her with me... If that's okay."

"I would love to take pictures of your snake," Nekomaru said, "She is truly a beautiful creature, just as graceful and amazing as all of the humans here. You've done a wonderful job raising her, though, that's a testament to your Ultimate Talent of course."

"Thank you!" Mikan said, holding a hand to her own lips as a small laugh escaped her, the nervousness now gone as Nekomaru heaped praise upon her prized animal and best friend in the world, "She's really special to me, so it makes me happy to hear that other people think I'm doing a good job taking care of her."

"I'm actually kind of glad that the temperature doesn't let you carry her around all the time, though," Sonia admitted, "I'm kind of scared of snakes, so it would be hard for us to be friends if she was there on your shoulders all the time, don't you think?"

"Ah! I'm sorry, Sonia!" Mikan said, shrinking away, "If I'd known that Pom-pom was scary to you..."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Sonia said, waving her hands in front of herself, "Really, that's not what I meant at all! It's just, when it comes to creepy-crawly creatures, I'm a little more fond of rodents than I am of the ones with scales. And I'm glad that I'm not scared to get close to you, because I think that you're amazing!"

Mikan blinked a few times, then just looked at Sonia with wide, questioning eyes.

"I mean, of course I'd think that," Sonia said, clasping her hands beneath her chin with a sweet smile, "You're not just an Ultimate with hope that shines brighter than anyone's, but you're also super cute and stuff, so you've got that going for you too! Thank you for letting me be your friend!"

Mikan turned a shade of red as she answered, "Well I, um, well I, I never had anyone say I'm _amazing_ or anything like that before... And, no, I mean, letting you be my friend? Isn't it the other way around? Aren't you the one who's taking pity on me here? I don't pity you at all I mean! I don't think if you say I'm letting you be my friend means I pity you! But it sure seems like, I mean, the only reason that you'd say things like that and be friends with me, friends with me, is if you pitied me..."

"Well whoever never called you amazing had to have been people who just don't appreciate Ultimate Talents. Even if nothing about you was amazing, I think that is," Sonia said, "And now I get to be surrounded by so many real and talented Ultimates... But Tsumiki, you're a special one, even among them, I think!"

"S-Stop that!" Mikan said, her blush deepening as she almost seemed to shiver, "Really, stop saying all these things about me, if you convince me that you're not lying then I'll probably just freak out..."

"What? Why would you freak out?" Sonia asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Miss Nevermind," Nekomaru said, reaching out and physically turning Sonia to look at him instead, "I'm sure that Tsumiki has her reasons, so please don't push her on this matter. We need to keep in mind that everybody has had different experiences, and for a person, a universal bad could seem good, or a universal good seem bad. If somebody seems stressed out, then don't try and assure them that what's stressing them out isn't worthy of stress, just stop."

"Oh," Sonia said, "Okay."


	38. Daily Life: Day Two (Ibuki's Show)

Fuyuhiko returned to his seat between Hiyoko and Peko, and moments later, Souda returned on Hiyoko's other side. A few more minutes, and Nagito took a seat on one of the other benches, just in time for Ibuki to cartwheel onto stage, then strike a pose front and center as she yelled out, "Here I am, the girl wonder, most flexible human on the island, it's Ibuki Mioda!"

"Actually," Peko said softly, to Fuyuhiko, "I'd hazard a guess and say that Mioda is more flexible than the non-humans on this island, too."

"I dunno," Fuyuhiko said, "Did you see Monokuma still talking with its head mostly disconnected from its body? Does it qualify as flexibility if you can still function with your limbs _removed_?"

"Maybe," Peko said, then turned her attention back to Ibuki, noting that she'd cut long slits on either side of her yukata so she could move around in it, her spats showing through at the hips.

"Ibuki's show is gonna rock your socks off! It's gonna have flips! It's gonna have tricks! Acrobatic feats the likes of which some of you have probably never seen because who can afford to go to the circus anyway!" Ibuki exclaimed, pointing towards the sky with one arm, "Heeeeere we go!"

With those words, Ibuki started her performance. It wasn't quite as utterly unique as Nagito's, in that she did do the same move multiple times over the course of her performance, but it was still very interesting. A routine choreographed to music, not actually unlike a cheerleading routine. Fuyuhiko wondered about that- Ibuki's personality seemed right for it too, and a lot of people did see that activity as a bizarre team gymnastic, so Fuyuhiko actually had to start wondering if that was how she got the title of Ultimate Gymnast to begin with.

Her performance actually ended up being a bit longer than Nagito's, working out to forty minutes. When she was done, she announced another intermission between her perfomance and Hajime's, which was apparently going to take them past nighttimes. The festival was scheduled to be taken apart at about half past midnight, giving everybody plenty of time to enjoy it. Breakfast the next morning was pushed back two hours, to give everyone the chance to catch up on sleep from staying up a few hours past the nighttime announcement at ten.

"Mioda is certainly impressive, isn't she?" Nagito asked, wandering over to Fuyuhiko's group, probably just because it was the largest grouping of people in one area.

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko agreed, "I think that she might have learned her gymnastic skills through cheerleading or something, though... Just, you know, because that was such a routine. I was sort of just expecting a demonstration, but instead she made a whole real show out of it."

"If that was the case, why wouldn't she be called the Ultimate Cheerleader, though?" Nagito asked, holding a finger to his own cheek, "Calling an Ultimate Cheerleader, the Ultimate Gymnast, well it sort of comes across like you're devaluing her true skills~!"

"Maybe it just sounds more official," Peko offered, "Or, if she's a cheerleader, maybe she's just the best gymnast ever, but her other cheerleading skills are simply average?"

"Why don't you just fucking ask her?" Hiyoko piped up, "I mean, she could answer those questions for you... It's weird as shit to just be theorizing about a real person like that! Unless you're practicing for figuring out motives in the class trials, that is." 

"Those aren't going to happen, so we aren't!" Souda assured her, "I just, well. Okay I guess that we were being kind of weird, I'll admit that."

"You sure were," Hiyoko said, "And I'll admit it too! Your weirdness almost even started putting me off!"

"Heh, sorry about that," Nagito said, waving his hands in front of himself, "I just think that you're all very cool, and I can't help but come up with my own theories of how you got there."

"But I'm the one who started being weird about it first," Fuyuhiko said.

"I also can't help but try and take the blame all onto my shoulders in situations where a group has done something perceived as unpleasant!" Nagito laughed, "As you can see, I have many idiosyncratic compulsions to my name. Unfortunate, don't you think?"

Peko blinked at him, then turned and ignored the conversation altogether.

"But hey, Komaeda," Hiyoko said, standing up on the bench now to be at eye level with him, "If you really wanna know more stuff about us, what are your theories about me, huh?"

"Well," Nagito said, "I can't say I've put much thought into you as of yet, I haven't witnessed much in the way of mystery on your part! But if I had to hazard a guess about your nature, I'd say that you never intended to excel in your field, but it just happened. Perhaps you spent your childhood as a 'grease monkey', getting into things you weren't supposed to?"

"Maybe it's something like that," Hiyoko said, "But if I neither confirm nor deny, then I'm sure you'll come up with something way wilder in the next few days, so, why don't you sleep on it and get back to me with an itemized list of theories about my past which may or may not be sordid?"

"I suppose I could do that," Nagito said, chuckling, then turned to look at the other benches, "Anyhow, I should probably have a chat with Koizumi, shouldn't I? She was such an enthusiastic audience member, it'd be a real _dick move_ if I didn't go and thank her for that!"

So, Nagito wandered off, but Fuyuhiko stood up as well, "Actually, I'll go over there too. Be back in a bit."

He had to run a little bit to catch up to Nagito, but he didn't question why Fuyuhiko had followed him or anything. It was an easy enough conclusion to make, that Fuyuhiko simply wanted to also be involved in the upcoming conversation. Nothing strange about it. They walked to the bench where Yamaguchi and Mahiru were seated, chatting but not about the show. Nagito cleared his throat, and they turned to look at him as he moved straight into a greeting, "Koizumi! I'd like to extend my thanks for your immensely positive interactions with my show, and wonder, as a clear connoisseur... Any critique?"


	39. Daily Life: Day Two (Critique)

"Komaeda!" Mahiru exclaimed, smiling up at him from where she sat, "Critique? No way, I don't have any. Yamaguchi and I have both seen old masters at work, and even their work didn't compare to yours. The technical aspects were all there, of course, but you somehow gave it a completely different aura. God, that sounds dumb! But I mean, the aura of other master dancers was like... 'We are continuing an ancient tradition'. But the way you dance, it's more like 'the ancestors themselves are guiding my body'. It looked the way I imagine that the original dancers would have, not like you were just _trying_ to be like them."

Nagito blinked, then lifted a hand to his cheek and laughed before he spoke, "I'm glad to hear praise like that, of course, but I'm still learning! And I certainly can't be compared to long-established masters... The Ultimate title is handed out as a statement that you're the best in your field for your age, that you're a skilled prodigy. It's never meant that your skills necessarily exceed the veterans of your field... Compared to them, I'm a trash performer!"

"Cease," Yamaguchi said, holding a hand out toward Nagito, though it wasn't an invitation to shake it or anything, more for emphasis, "It's disrespectful to yourself and to the tradition to call a performance like yours a trash one. I agree with Koizumi, you gave off the impression of somebody who was dancing in the era the steps were developed, not one reenacting history. Perhaps from a more expert position, you're leagues behind the masters, but having let us see you as if you were one of those people.... To then say the performance wasn't good, that's like you are saying modern interpretations hold up more than the true traditional ones."

"I assure you, I meant no such thing! Somebody with my talent has to always be aware of an honor his ancestry... I'm just not sure I'd believe that I'm on par with them either, you know? As far as any of my teachers are concerned, I shouldn't have even put on a show in the first place! I'm still so green by comparison that I'm still useless to them. I've never been included in a group performance, I always watch and observe, or stay at home and practice by myself. If anything, you're disrespecting the ancestors by saying that they're at all like someone like me. Perhaps I am the best traditional dancer of my age group, to a point a talent scout may be impressed, but when it comes to the inner circle and intricacies... I am still nothing."

"Who..." Mahiru said, taken aback and quiet now, "Who were your teachers? What group?"

"Why do you want to know?" Nagito asked, "But, it was of course the traditional dance society of Japan. I suppose that anyone from a different historical group might actually be worse than me, but I've never seen them. My only frame of reference is my own teachers."

"I've seen them," Mahiru said, crossing one hand over her chest to hold her shoulder, "That group, I've seen a performance of theirs. I suppose technically speaking, they were more advanced than yours. But, at the same time, robotic. Too calculated. Stiff, and not flowing, and with no real energy at all. They would lose in a swordfight, that's for certain. Dance and fighting, they're quite similar things, if you have a natural gift for the former then you should be capable of the latter. But there was no thought. No emotion."

"Wow! Koizumi..." Nagito said, seeming in awe of her, "I may be the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, but it seems that's only a technicality... I could absolutely learn from you. You have an actual, important insight to the field."

"My insight? It's just that you don't put technical ability over your spirit," Mahiru said, "As far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't change. You're perfect right now."

"I wouldn't say perfect," Nagito said.

"Stop! Being! Modest!" Mahiru reprimanded Nagito, and Fuyuhiko had to imagine that if she had anything at hand which wasn't a full-sized bamboo sword, she would have hit him on the head with those words, "Just accept the compliment, okay? It's hard enough for me to admit that a guy like you is really so talented!"

"Okay, okay," Nagito said, waving his hands defensively as he realized that his humble behavior wasn't doing him any favors. Fuyuhiko could tell that Nagito still didn't necessarily believe it, but he wasn't about to piss of Mahiru any further.

Fuyuhiko decided that he'd had enough of these people, though, and wandered back to his own seat to wait for the final show of the night to begin. Apparently, it was going to run pretty late. He hadn't been keeping track of the time at all, but he ended up surprised when, likely moments before Hajime was going to take the stage, Monokuma sounded the nighttime announcement.

"Yeah, yeah, everybody. It's ten pm, but you're not gonna go to bed or anything, you're just gonna stay up late with this dumb festival," Its announcement sounded exasperated, "Never before has anybody ignored my announcement so thoroughly on the second night... and probably never again! This ignorance usually waits until at least one death has proved the curfew ineffective!"

"Well, the fact we already did it is just more proof that we won't have any deaths..." Souda mumbled to himself, but didn't seem convinced.

"Usually?" Hiyoko questioned, fixating on a different bit of the message, "What's that supposed to mean, huh? Usually? As if this shit's happened before?"

"Well, of course it fuckin' has!" Monokuma answered, this time in person and standing in front of them. His ability to basically poof into existence seemed especially strange, "You think that you'd be the first dummies in a Killing Game? This is the _second trial-based killing game_. And, it's about the fifth overall. There was the Student Council's Mafia Game, The Reserve Course's Hunting Game, The First Trial Based Killing Game, and then the Streets of Despair Game! I can tell you all about those if you want, Upupu. They're really proud achievements of mine."

"Ah..." Souda made a sort of strangled sound, "I don't think we need-"

"All the information we can get could be useful," Peko said, overriding his cowardice with her own act of curiosity, "So, yes, Monokuma. We have a little bit of time left before Hinata's performance, so could you please regale us with your tales of Killing Games past?"


	40. Daily Life: Day Three (Past Midnight)

"Glad to hear somebody appreciates my efforts!" Monokuma said, crossing its arms in a smug pose, "Let's go chronologically. The Student Council's mafia game... Well, it was kind of impossible for those fuckers to ignore the curfew!! I used sleeping drugs to make sure of that. And every night, one person didn't get drugged, so they had the opportunity to kill someone. It wasn't required, but they did it anyway. There were some other special roles too, of course. It would be unfair if they couldn't sniff out the mafia member. But then, in the end, the last one standing ended up dead too. This proved to me the game was faulty. Everyone dead? What an unsatisfying ending."

"You want someone to survive?" Fuyuhiko asked, "That seems counter-intuitive."

"No way!" Monokuma exclaimed, "If I wanted everybody to die, then let's be honest, I could kill you all right off the bat. I won't tell you why I don't want each and every one of you to die, though. That would be giving you way too much information right off the bat! Moving on, the Reserve Course Hunting Game is exactly what it sounds like. We trapped as many Hope's Peak Students and faculty as we could in one building, then armed reserve course students to the teeth and let them go wild! They always obeyed the curfew, though. No going inside the building at night... Probably because that was when the prey were released from their cuffs, bahaha! Reserve course students wouldn't stand a chance against Ultimates in a fair fight."

"That's..." Hiyoko muttered.

"Fucked up! I _know_!" Monokuma finished, "And, the first trial based game... Was just like this one, but in a school, not on an island. Then there was the Streets of Despair. That one... Upupu, super interesting! I wasn't even involved in that one, so I don't know all the details, but! There were little kids involved so I bet they definitely kept to their bedtimes at the beginning. So, all in all, you are just some insufferable bastards who are staying up late for absolutely no reason this early in the game. Fuck you."

"Fuck you too," Monokuma, "Souda said, then turned back to the stage, "Leave us alone now. The next show's starting in a minute."

Souda was right, the others observed. Turning to the stage revealed to each of them that Hajime was preparing. He had his guitar, and was helping to set up microphones for Mukuro and Teruteru, the latter's needing to be quite short. Why _were_ there so many tiny Ultimates in this class? Nobody would ever know the answer to that question.

Monokuma seemed a bit annoyed at the fact that it was dismissed so flippantly, but it did make itself scarce in time for its audience to focus instead on the actual show. Unlike the other two, Hajime had plenty of content at his disposal. He wasn't going to go obnoxiously long, of course; He wrapped up his show just a bit before midnight, and upon finishing, he and his group simply climbed down from the front of the stage.

Fuyuhiko was... Impressed by that show too, moreso than the previous ones because he actually had some small grasp on the genre in the first place. Hajime had even played a cover of a song from a video game, so it made sense that Fuyuhiko would enjoy the show more. He hung back on the bench though, unlike a few of the others who walked up to congratulate them. Akane went up to Teruteru, Sonia to Mukuro, and Nagito to Hajime himself to congratulate them immediately.

Fuyuhiko wasn't sure where Sonia had been sitting throughout the show, but she definitely seemed impressed by Mukuro. Fuyuhiko wasn't as impressed by the backup singers by a long shot; He knew that the fact that they were passable was entirely the result of Hajime training them up.

Even so, everybody was in generally high spirits after such a nice string of performances, and good food; As far as Fuyuhiko could see, the festival was a success. It was a good idea that Nagito had, to lift everybody up and assure them that even though they were trapped here, they could still enjoy each others talents and company. Of course, this was a large production, and couldn't exactly happen often. Even so, it was good for a one-time thing. Or, maybe an occasional thing.

"You know," Peko said, "I don't think there's any reason to actually clean this stuff up. We can leave it up."

"Good point," Hiyoko agreed, then stood from the bench and stretched her arms above her head, "Jeeze, I'm tired... Is it past midnight yet?"

Fuyuhiko checked his Monopad, "Oh, yeah, by a couple minutes."

"Mm. I oughta go to sleep," She said, rubbing her eyes.

"Aww, it's past your bedtime?" Fuyuhiko teased, though only after a tiny gap to see if Souda would go for the obvious joke. Upon the opening being left to him, though, he wouldn't hesitate to make fun of Hiyoko.

"Shut up! I don't have a bedtime, I'm just super tired. I was busy all day long, you know, setting this stuff up so you guys could watch the performance," Hiyoko said.

"Yeah," Fuyuhiko said, "And, thanks for that. But before you go to sleep, do you think we should go and check in with Tanaka? I was wondering if he was able to hear the show from the first aid tent."

"Huh? I guess..." Hiyoko mumbled her response, "Since you asked and all, it's not like I give a shit..."

"Let's go, then," Peko said, standing up and taking the lead towards the tent. Souda, Fuyuhiko, and Hiyoko fell in by her, somewhat beside and somewhat behind. Souda hadn't gone to check on Gundam since the first intermission, so he was coming too.

"Oi, Tanaka!" Hiyoko called out, stepping in front of Peko as they got closer to the tent to pull aside the entrance flap. But then she froze. Standing at the entranceway, the flap quivered in her knuckles as her whole body was overtaken with tremors. Other than the shaking, she didn't move. She whimpered, the sound clearly falling from her lips unbidden.

Fuyuhiko pushed forward, moving before any of the others thought to, putting a hand on Hiyoko's shoulder to peer over it and see what she saw. Peko approached too, looking over his shoulder.

And all three pairs of eyes fell on a gruesome sight.

Fell on Gundam Tanaka, with tentpoles through his body, through the cot, dripping with blood as he lay with unblinking glassy eyes to the ceiling.


	41. Deadly Life: Day Three (Discovery)

"A body has been discovered! I repeat, a body has been discovered!" Monokuma exclaimed, "Please, everybody, head on over to the first aid tent and we can get this investigation started! You'll all be receiving the special item, the Monokuma File! It's basically a coroner's report, which'll help you out. I wouldn't expect you dumbasses to conduct a good autopsy, and that would just make any murder investigation unfair, wouldn't it?"

"What the fuck," Hiyoko said, finally forcing words out as she took a step backwards and released the tent's flap, "What the fuck, what the fuck oh my God, that's… Ah…"

"That's atrociously brutal," Peko said, stepping past Hiyoko to walk into the tent herself, still speaking to them from inside, "Of course, we already need to be thinking about who could have possibly done something like this. Given how brutal it is, we can rule out Yamaguchi, and myself. There's no reason either of us would have killed somebody in this method. Koizumi likely wouldn't have used a tactic like this, either…"

"Save the theories for the trial," Fuyuhiko said, staying outside of the tent. He didn't need to see the body again. He didn't need to see that at all, to begin with, but it was burned into his mind. He had no reason to witness it a second time, "Just… Investigate for now, I guess."

"I can't believe…" Hiyoko whined, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth as she turned away from the tend, buckling over as if she was trying not to be sick, "It's not like I thought nobody was going to die! But killing somebody like that…"

"I shouldn't have left," Souda mumbled, mostly to himself, "I should have stayed in the tent, he told me he'd be fine if I went to see the show but I left him undefended… He couldn't even run away with his leg like that. I should have stayed with him. I should have stayed-"

"Kazuichi," Sonia's clear and crisp voice interrupted his spiral, "Don't blame yourself for that. You couldn't have known. So Tanaka is the victim?"

"He is," Hiyoko was the one to answer, straightening up with her hands now adjusted to hide all of her face, including her eyes. Probably because she would be more embarrassed to be seen with tears in her eyes than she was giving the idea that she could be fighting the urge to cry, "Don't go in there, it's horrible."

"Horrible?" Sonia asked, then ignored Hiyoko's warning and brushed past the others gathered outside of the tent to walk inside and have a look for herself. Just as Sonia disappeared from view, others began to appear. Yamaguchi and Mahiru both went directly inside the tent without even ceasing to speak to anybody.

Mikan approached, but stayed at a distance, her hands clasped in concern as her eyes flitted between everybody within view, evidently trying to come to a conclusion on who had been killed, but dreading the answer so much she wouldn't ask or check the file she'd been given.

Mukuro, Hajime, and Teruteru arrived along with Akane, all four of them arriving having already checked the file. Hajime was the one who made this statement, "We already know, we read the file. We saw the picture, but… The listed cause of death seems kind of weird to me. Also, I'd like to take charge of investigating, along with Ikusaba, I think she can help me better than any of you other idiots. This is fine, right? The time of death was in the middle of the show, so we have perfect alibis. We can be trusted to investigate."

"Be our fucking guest," Hiyoko said, "I don't think anybody else is exactly jumping at the bit to play detective!"

“Okay,” Hajime said, then turned to Mukuro, “I’ll investigate inside the tent, around the body. Why don’t you check out the old hotel building? That would be an easy place to hide something, I think.”

“Of course,” Mukuro said, then took off in that direction.

“I can’t believe something like this had to happen during our festival…” Akane said, her voice gloomy and her usual fluffed-up hair seeming to sink around her face, as if the only reason it looked like that was because she was always bouncing off the walls, and as soon as she actually stood still all the energy disappeared from her.

“It’s truly apalling,” Nekomaru observed as he also approached the tent, a hand on his camera, “I don’t want to put such a thing in my scrapbook, and as such I won’t, but I feel… The only way my talent could be of use, would be to photograph the crime scene. Monokuma gave no indication of how long we would have to investigate, and photos could give us the opportunity to notice details that we previously missed.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Hiyoko said, curling her lip back, “You don’t have to see the fucking crime scene. You don’t.”

“The truth is important,” Nekomaru said, lifting his camera in his hand, “It’s fine.”

With that, he also went inside the tent. Souda approached Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko holding his hands to his sides, “Saionji… Saionji, are you, doing okay? I mean, obviously you’re not, but you seem more screwed up by this than I would have… Expected from you.”

“Looks like I’m just not as fucking stable as you thought,” Hiyoko hissed, wrapping her arms around herself, “I barely even talked to him! You’re right, this shouldn’t be getting under my skin! But, also, I fucking. Discovered it. I was all happy and content and then it all crashed in a second…”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Akane said, joining in the conversation, “It, might not be as bad as you think. What Hinata said, about the cause of death being strange, I mean? Um. It’s still fucking awful, but… The cause of death isn’t impalement. The cause of death is listed as ‘Monokuma Motive Number One’.”


	42. Deadly Life: Day Three (Bloody Deep-Fried ?)

“Monokuma Motive Number One?” Mikan asked, finally getting up the courage to actually participate in the current conversation, “What does that mean? I thought that Monokuma hadn’t given us any motives yet…”

“I thought so too,” Akane said, “But, why would it say that on the file, instead of that he was impaled? There must have been something.”

“Monokuma said it’d be delivering motives,” Fuyuhiko said, “But it never said it would be delivering them publicly, did it? All it said was that we were going to get motives. Maybe it only delivered them to a few people.”

“That would make it way too easy to figure out who did it, though. If only some people were given the motive, right?” Mikan asked, holding her hands clasped tight beneath her chin. She wouldn’t make eye contact with anybody.

“Only if they admit they got the motive,” Fuyuhiko said, “Which, well, who the fuck would?”

“We should do some investigation too…” Souda decided to add in, “I know that Hinata volunteered to do it, but he might not be able to cover much ground, right? I’m going to check out some of the excess tents.”

“I’ll go with you,” Mikan said, stepping in behind him.

“Kuzuryuu, Saionji,” Akane said, “He’s right. Could you come with me back to my booth? I think there could be something there, since I left my booth behind to watch the show.”

“Sure,” Hiyoko said.

“I can’t think of anywhere else to investigate, so could I tag along?” Teruteru asked.

“Yeah, sure!” Akane said, without even thinking to consult either of her other helpers. Neither of them said anything, though, so the group of four made their way back over towards Akane’s food stand. Really, any area could have evidence, since everybody was so preoccupied with Hajime’s performance. Fuyuhiko knew he only would have noticed if somebody on the same bench as him left, and they hadn’t. So in his mind, Souda, Hiyoko, Peko, himself, and the people on stage had alibis. That still left a good half of the students as suspects.

Of course, he didn’t want to suspect anybody, but he knew that it wasn’t Monokuma’s direct action. This murder had been committed by somebody here. He knew that this was going to happen, and he did still keep his emotional distance from the majority of people here. He hadn’t been able to, completely, but at the same time he could only imagine getting really torn up about a few specific people.

He was freaked out by Gundam being dead. He did consider Gundam a friend. At the same time, though, he knew that he could move on. He succeeded in keeping his distance enough that he could be terrified and apalled and miserable that a friend of his was killed, but far enough away, he wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t feel the need to cry. Maybe that made him heartless, but he thought that he was really just protecting himself.

Akane’s food stand was actually too small for all of them to investigate at once. Akane and Hiyoko could fit inside, and Fuyuhiko took up the exterior of the thing. Teruteru ended up just standing there without anything he could actually do to help.

Only moments later, Akane found something. Fuyuhiko expected that she would, since it was her stand and she would be familiar with what was out of place. The thing was, the item she found that was out of place was one that probably anybody could have picked up on. When she got everybody’s attention and they turned to see what she’d found, she had a strange item hanging from a pair of tongs, dripping oil, with burnt batter obscuring the nature of the thing.

At least, Fuyuhiko thought it obscured the nature of the thing. Teruteru, on the other hand…

“Is that a… A deep-fried bra!?” Teruteru questioned, staring at it as he approached the counter to get a closer look.

“How can you tell?” Akane asked innocently, then shook the item in her tongs. As some of the batter flaked off of it, the actual shape became much more clear. Teruteru was right, “Oh. Huh. A deep-fried bra.”

“I can’t believe that the first underwear I see on this tropical island getaway is covered in batter!” Teruteru complained, “It’s a combination of two of my favorite things, but without the best parts of either of those! Who would do such a thing?”

“Probably the same person who’d kill Tanaka,” Hiyoko said, rolling her eyes as she stood up and came into view, “Probably trying to get rid of it as evidence. There’s actually, not a lot you could do here to discard shit like that. Let’s get that batter off and see if it has any bloodstains on it.”

“Right,” Akane said, setting it down on the counter and starting to pull off the batter. The fryer had automatically shut off after a certain amount of time unused; Hiyoko could clarify how long. Underneath the batter, there were in fact some bloodstains on the bra that had probably once been white. Signs were definitely starting to point to the culprit being one of the girls.

Fuyuhiko started running through them in his head. The girls who didn’t have alibis as far as he was concerned… Akane didn’t, but she probably wouldn’t have pulled out this bra evidence so readily if she was responsible for it. So that left Mikan, Sonia, Mahiru, and Ibuki. Four potential suspects really narrowed it down.

Though, maybe he was jumping the gun with that. There wasn’t enough evidence yet to say with confidence that this was definitive. And, there could always be an accomplice.

It could be the work of two people. He had enough distrust in his heart that he could believe it if there were.

“Ah…” Hiyoko trailed off, staring at the garment, “I kind of thought there would be, but I’m still surprised that there is. Blood on the bra, I mean.”

“I just thought we’d make ourselves feel useful without really doing anything,” Akane said, “But I think instead we… Found some real evidence.”


	43. Deadly Life: Day Three (Evidence Report)

“I guess… that’s good…?” Hiyoko questioned. She really didn’t know if it was; After all, Akane was right. This group of four wasn’t really an investigative party, they just wanted to look and feel helpful. None of them actually predicted that they’d find evidence of the crime in such a trivial location as Akane’s food stand. But, now it seemed that they would have to participate in the trial more than any of them wanted to, at least one of them, to share what they’d found with the group.

Well, unless they passed it off to Hajime and Mukuro in time. All four of them seemed to realize this at once, because Akane picked the bra back up and left her booth, starting back at a run to the infirmary tent, and nobody hesitated to follow her. Nekomaru was right that they had no idea how much time they were being allotted to investigate, and none of them, not even Teruteru, wanted to be the one who had to bring up the existence of a bloody deep-fried bra in a courtroom.Upon arriving back to the tent, Hajime and Peko were both exiting. It seemed, as Fuyuhiko unfortunately caught a glimpse while those two had the flap open, that Nekomaru had already moved on. At least Hajime was still here. Akane walked right up to him and proudly held out the bra.

"What… The fuck?" Hajime asked, clearly thrown for a loop by her wordless offer of an undergarment.

"Oh! Um," Akane turned red as she realized what she'd done, "This isn't my bra or anything, I promise! It has some blood on it, and we found it in one of my fry baskets. We scraped the batter off and stuff. I think someone tried to dispose of it like that!"

"Ah, I see," Hajime said, then took it from her without any further comment on the strange nature of the situation, "Good work, Owari… And friends. Pekoyama's been helping me inside the tent. I think that I'll go meet back up with Ikusaba now."

With that, Hajime left, but Peko remained and turned to Fuyuhiko, "You'd think with his talent, he wouldn't have an especially keen eye. But, it seems that he does, after all. We found a number of things that I had not noticed upon first glance into the crime scene."

"What sort of things?" Fuyuhiko asked, noticing out of the corner of his eye that the others who had joined him at Akane's food stand were wandering off, leaving him alone with his friend. He wasn't truly curious, but staying on focus investigating seemed like the only thing he could do in the situation.

"We found some weird bits of plastic," Peko said, "Hinata took everything physical with him… Um, a small scrap of beige fabric was stuck to one of the poles, there was black bile under Tanaka's tongue. Just a few weird things. I'm sure that Hinata will do a better job explaining, during the trial."

"Beige fabric?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Yeah, what's so weird about that?" Peko wondered.

"Well," Fuyuhiko said, "None of the tents are beige. It would have to come from somebody's clothing, I think."

"Oh," Peko said, "That makes it a bigger piece of evidence, then. We'll have to keep that in mind, moving forward."

"Yeah…" Fuyuhiko agreed, a sigh tinting his words. Then, he suddenly felt like somebody was behind him. He turned to see Ibuki there, "Ah, Mioda…"

"Ibuki thinks…" Ibuki spoke softly, her hands held in close to her chest, "This could be her fault."

"How?" Peko asked.

"If not for Ibuki's assurance that the festival could be held within one day…" Ibuki explained, "Tanaka's leg wouldn't have been broken, he wouldn't have been left unattended in the first aid tent, we wouldn't have all been totally one hundred percent distracted at the time he died. With the show, even if he was crying out for help the whole time, nobody would hear!"

"Are you fucking, kidding me?" Fuyuhiko said, glaring in her direction, "If you're not the killer, then this isn't on you. And those are stupid reasons. You can't make assumptions like that, like everything would have been totally different if you'd made one little change! That makes you seem real goddamn self-important. Yeah, maybe among people who aren't Ultimates, that'd be true, but here…"

"Ibuki wonders…" Ibuki's voice somehow dropped even further, "If it's not her fault… If it's the killer's fault… Monokuma said that the 'blackened' will die, in the rules, right? Does that really mean the culprit? Or does it mean whoever takes the most blame?"

"It's got to be the culprit," Peko said, holding a hand to her own mouth, "Though, that's a good point. In the case of an accidental death, does it come down to whoever created the situation where that accident was possible?"

"Good question!" Monokuma exclaimed, arriving, "And, I can answer that. It doesn't have to be a mystery. In the case of the blackened being vague, I'll always make a clarification. If an accident occurred, then it really comes down to intent, as far as I'm concerned. Stacking boxes in an unfortunate way and they happen to fall and kill somebody? Does not create a culprit! And in that case, I might not even have a trial. But if it's an obvious trap, there's a culprit. Oh, and I guess it's possible I might hold a trial over an accident that could only be blamed on the victim. I think that it would be a total blast to see if you guys can figure that one out!”

“That sounds horrifying,” Fuyuhiko said.

“Yeah, that’s the point!” Monokuma exclaimed, bursting out into laughter, “Well, anyway, I’ll leave you be. You still have a little bit of time left to investigate, and I bet you don’t wanna spend it talking to little old me!”

Before anybody could respond in any manner, the bear was gone again. Ibuki, Fuyuhiko, and Peko stood there, now the closest people remaining to the body as the investigation was already winding down.

Winding down with the answers no closer.

Winding down with the assurance from Monokuma that this wouldn’t be the last time.


	44. Deadly Life: Day Three (Everyone Is A Suspect)

“Ibuki doesn’t even want to go to the trial,” Ibuki complained, holding her arms around herself as she did, “Why? Why’s this gotta happen?”

“It doesn’t ‘gotta’ happen,” Fuyuhiko said, “It just did. Nobody had to die. But Tanaka did. Because somebody decided to kill him. And for all we know, it could be you and you’re just trying to throw us off your trail, Mioda.”

“No!” Ibuki gasped, and took a step backwards, “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s possible,” Peko backed him up, “Everything is.”

“Ibuki… Knows that,” Ibuki mumbled.

“In fact, as far as you’re concerned. Kuzu and I don’t have an alibi. You have no valid alibi for us, and we have no valid alibi for you. We were sitting too far apart to notice,” Peko explained the same thing that Fuyuhiko had earlier noticed for himself.

Ibuki seemed taken aback by this, but she just nodded, then turned and walked away from the two of them. Fuyuhiko sighed, shaking his head in disapproval. Of what, even he wasn’t sure. Of her naivety? He’d assume it was that.

“Peko,” Fuyuhiko got her attention again, “I do agree with her on one point, you know.”

“I know,” Peko said, “I don’t want to go to the trial either. But, if we don’t, then it can only turn out badly for everyone.”

“That is a strange bit,” Fuyuhiko said, “The fact that somebody would commit a murder isn’t that strange to me, really. We expected that with Monokuma egging us on, it would be possible. But it also seems like that person really tried to hide the evidence and everything. Do you really think somebody here is that selfish?”

Peko frowned down at her feet, “That is a sticking point, isn’t it? It’s one, predictable thing, to kill somebody. To decide it’s also acceptable to condemn another fourteen people to death at the same time is… Less predictable. I think it’s more likely that whoever did this is clever enough to call Monokuma’s bluff.”

“Monokuma’s bluff?” Fuyuhiko asked, not quite following Peko’s logic. Of course, she was a diplomatic marvel, so she’d know all about bluffing.

“It said it already. If it wanted all of us dead, it could kill us. It says it would execute us all if somebody got away with murder. It also says it can very easily kill us in a moment if we break a rule,” Peko explained, “But it wants to see us tear each other apart. If it was really serious about killing everybody else, wouldn’t that be an unsatisfying end? To go through all this trouble establishing a Killing Game, only for one person’s creativity to spell the end for the rest of us preemptively?”

“So you think,” Fuyuhiko said, “Whoever killed Tanaka believes that Monokuma won’t kill the rest of us if we guess wrong? So, should we specifically try to accuse the wrong culprit so that the real one can go free, and we’ll be fine?”

“If we did it that way, Monokuma really would kill us all,” Peko said, “It’s contrived, that way. If we’re trying earnestly and still accuse the wrong person, then it probably wouldn’t kill us. If we were seriously trying to call its bluff, it would kill us just to prove its point. So, as much as I hate to say it, we do need to search for the true culprit. If we are wrong, so be it, but it’s likely we’ll need to sentence somebody to death.”

“You really think our group can find the killer accurately?” Fuyuhiko asked.

Peko paused for a moment, then turned to look down at him, almost looking as if she was disappointed in him. Silence hung between them before she spoke again, “I think it would be strange if our group didn’t. Myself, Koizumi, Yamaguchi, Komaeda. We’re all definitely smart enough to find the answer. And Hinata surprised me with his investigative skills. That’s five people, all with the skills to track down Tanaka’s killer. Even if it was one of those people. Hinata and I could still combine our minds to determine the truth. Do you really have that little faith in the abilities of the people around you?”

“What? No, I mean,” Fuyuhiko stumbled over his words, and he couldn’t find the right ones. The only thing he could say to explain away what he’d said, was if he said the truth. That he was projecting. That he was so lost on who it could be, and he’d spent the most time, apart from what he spent with Pekoyama, around people just as unskilled in this area as he was. To admit that he was mostly just calling himself an idiot would injure his pride far too much in front of her, though. So instead, he just said, “Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you can outsmart a criminal.”

It wasn’t the best thing to say, and it wouldn’t resolve the situation. Still, those words were enough of a reasonable backpedal that Peko’s glare softened just the smallest bit. She didn’t say anything else, though. Fuyuhiko knew that she had nothing to say to him. That explanation still meant he underestimated her, and their other classmates. And, it revealed he wasn’t the only one who had failed to keep his emotional distance. Peko was offended not just for herself, but on behalf of the classmates she believed in.

As much as either of them were able to avoid making friends in the past, there was something about being around fellow ultimates that made it impossible to stay cold and reserved. Both of them were letting their emotions get the better of them in this case already. In the first investigation, after the very first murder. Monokuma wasn’t going to give up. And its first motive, whatever that motive was, had clearly been effective.

Before Fuyuhiko could think of anything else to say, Peko had walked away from him, leaving him now completely alone. One person, closest now to the body. One person, who’d been on a ploy earlier that very day… No, technically, the previous day, to prove that Fuyuhiko would care if somebody died. One person who thought he had more potential than he really thought he did have. One person who actually saw the value in Fuyuhiko’s Ultimate Talent. A truly worthless talent. But Gundam thought differently. And Gundam had just been spared from Monokuma’s wrath just hours ago. It was a tragedy, it wasn’t expected.

Fuyuhiko was… Alone.

Assured that Peko had also failed to guard her heart.

With no promise to keep and nothing to prove to anybody else, he let himself think the truth.

And, his cheeks were wet.

Of course he’d cry over Gundam’s sudden death.

Who the Hell wouldn’t?


	45. Deadly Life: Day Three (Investigation Complete)

“The investigation is officially over!” Monokuma called out, its voice floating out from the speakers all over the island. Fuyuhiko heard it, but he didn’t exactly process its words. He didn’t actually know what it said after the proclamation of the investigation’s end. He was too distracted by his own thoughts to listen to what some shitty bear had to say. Whatever.

A few minutes later, Nagito spotted him. He walked over, grabbed Fuyuhiko by the arm, and spoke softly as if he could understand the entire situation from one single look at him, “Come on. It’s time to go.”

“Yeah,” Fuyuhiko said, then looked up at Nagito’s face, “Where is the trial happening?”

“You didn’t hear that, huh?” Nagito asked, still gentle, softly pulling Fuyuhiko along as he walked. Showing a different side of himself. Fuyuhiko didn’t think he was about to witness Nagito in a vulnerable moment, but this was just as intriguing, telling about his true nature, somehow. The way that he reacted in somebody else’s vulnerable moment, “Monokuma said to go to central island, after which, ‘something will happen’. I suppose a path to the courtroom will open to us.”

“I see,” Fuyuhiko said, and he was starting to come back down to Earth, leave whatever ‘realm of mourning’ he’d floated off into. As Gundam probably would have called it, “Do you think there’s enough evidence?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Nagito said, and with Fuyuhiko’s mood returning to a level, he was regaining his usual demeanor, “I believe wholly in Hinata and Ikusaba’s abilities. Of which, the latter, I’m quite surprised at! For a lucky student, she seems to have a number of things that she’s legitimately skilled at doing. I suppose that’s perfectly plausible, though. Her talents are simple of a lower caliber than would be considered Ultimate.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Fuyuhiko agreed, “And I heard from Peko, too, that Hinata’s been doing a good job at investigating. I can see why you believe in him.”

“Of course, I believe in everybody here,” Nagito said, releasing Fuyuhiko’s arm to put his hands on his hips, “We’re Ultimates after all. Something like this… Is just another obstacle for us to overcome. Or, it would be, if not for the nature of it. If not for the fact that this obstacle was spurred by the death of a fellow Ultimate.”

“Yeah, that kind of makes it hard to accept it as a learning experience,” Fuyuhiko agreed, “I just… We were only starting to get to know him. And now he’s gone.”

“And there will be another,” Nagito said, simply, “Somebody else will be killed when the trial is over, after all. Perhaps it’s disgusting for me to say such a thing, but part of me hopes it could have been Miss Nevermind.”

“Sonia? Why?” Fuyuhiko questioned.

“Well,” Nagito said, sighing, “I told you it would make me sound disgusting. Even so, think about it. She’s merely the Ultimate Lucky Student. Still an Ultimate, of course, but by comparison, not so impressive. Even Hanamura and Ikusaba have presented actual skills, in spite of also being in a different category of Ultimate. Miss Nevermind seems… Very average.”

“You’re right, that does sound kinda awful,” Fuyuhiko said, “I don’t hope it’s her, or anybody. She’s good at gardening too. Not like it matters. I don’t think somebody’s worthiness of surviving has anything to do with how skilled they are…”

“Obviously, I don’t think that,” Nagito said, “Under normal circumstances. I just believe that if it has to be somebody, then she wouldn’t mark a huge loss for the group. Then again, if she’s really so incompetent, then we would have already figured out if she did it… That’s a bit of a paradox, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Fuyuhiko said, speeding up towards the central island, not sure he wanted to keep hearing what Nagito thought. Nagito… Was fine, of course, but maybe he had some screwed up ideas. Fuyuhiko thought back to that conversation Nagito had earlier with Mahiru. He’d been raised in an environment that led even him to believe that he himself wasn’t good enough. So, maybe that impacted why Nagito could possibly think that there was a ‘lesser evil’ for somebody’s death, if they weren’t as skilled.

So Fuyuhiko decided not to hold that against him. Or at least, not to hold it against him quite yet. Maybe he’d be proven wrong and Nagito wouldn’t end up deserving the benefit of the doubt.

It wasn’t long before the two of them arrived at the central island, and they were the last ones there. Ibuki didn’t seem to have calmed down at all, but Mikan and Hiyoko both were in better shape than they’d earlier been. Souda was still hovering on that edge of complete breakdown and wanting to keep Hiyoko from sliding back into hers, as far as Fuyuhiko could tell.

Peko wouldn’t make eye contact with him, standing by Hajime and Mukuro. Teruteru, Akane, and Nekomaru were standing off to one side, and Fuyuhiko couldn’t really read those three. Mahiru, Sonia, and Yamaguchi stood almost defiantly in front of the Monokuma statue.

“Upuu! You’re here!” Monokuma exclaimed, uttering forth a noise that almost wouldn’t have sounded out of place if it came from the mouth of a hot anime babe getting hit by an attack in a 2d fighting game, “Oh boy! I’m so excited for this trial! I’d say you set a record for a soon murder, but, I’m not actually so sure you outdid the last game, and does it really count as a record if the second game does it anyway? Besides. The dawn of the third day? That’s chump change. I bet lots of other trial-based games will do it early on day two!”

“Where is the courtroom, Monokuma?” Sonia asked, looking up at the creature as it perched on its own statue’s head, “I’m assuming that, with this island built for this purpose, you have a legitimate one to offer us?”

“That’s not the purpose of this island,” Monomi complained from behind Fuyuhiko and Nagito, “These islands were made to foster friendship between you! But that meanie Mister Monokuma took over…”

“Which means there is in fact a courtroom!” Monokuma confirmed, then leapt into the air. The mighty maw of the marble Monokuma opened up, and an escalator came forth, touching down in the sand. The soft sound it made served, it seemed, as an invitation, at least to Sonia. She stepped onto the moving stairs, and everyone followed after her, not wanting to be left behind. Monokuma cracked a joke, “Eager, aren’t we? I guess that you all totally want revenge!”

“Something like that,” Sonia said, showing Monokuma what those around her could only describe as a shit-eating grin, “And these Ultimates will have it. Their revenge, I mean. Whoever the culprit is will have to fall to their prowess. Just as you one day will, Monokuma.”

“Big words from a piece of shit lucky student!” Monokuma exclaimed, then guffawed as it disappeared from view. The group found an elevator at the top of the escalator, which carried them down below the central island into a courtroom. A joke of a courtroom; It looked somehow like a gothic basketball court, but with podiums all in a circle. And, Monokuma’s reappearance in an elaborate throne at the twelve-o-clock position.

Each podium was labled for the student who belonged there. Fuyuhiko found himself in between Peko (it would have been reassuring, if it wasn’t awkward), and Hiyoko. That actually was reassuring. And, assuming he and Peko could reconcile before the… Next trial, her presence would be too, of course. Directly across from Fuyuhiko, staring him down, was an image of Gundam with a blood-colored X struck through his face. On either side of him were Sonia and Souda.

Now, it was time to find out the culprit.


	46. First Trial (Begin The Hunt)

“Come one, come all, to the trial of the murderer of the Ultimate Coach, Gundam Tanaka!” Monokuma cried as if it were the ringleader of a circus, “Wow, try saying that three times fast! Luckily, nobody has to, because there’s only one trial and Gundam Tanaka can only die once! Now, usually, I would be excluding Monomi from these activities, but just for this one trial I think that I’ll have her sit in. After all, I wanna see her reaction to her precious students turning on each other for the first time, in real time! First-time-real-time Yeah!”

“Ooo… I don’t like violence,” Monomi complained, sitting in what appeared to be an infant’s carseat to the side of Monokuma’s throne, holding her paws to her cheeks, “Please, don’t be too harsh on each other! This is all too much… I never even got the chance to make amends to Tanaka for what meanie-kuma made me do to him…”

“Here’s what we know, to start off,” Hajime took the lead, holding up his Monopad, “The cause of death is listed as the Monokuma Motive Number One, but given we don’t know what it is, we’ll assume the actual cause was the impalement, and the motive, whatever it was, was the motive and not really the method. The time of death was at 2334, just a short while before midnight and in the middle of my performance.”

“The time of death is an important factor here,” Peko said, “Because it’s not hard to have an alibi for that time. Hinata’s performance group are of course, cleared of all suspicions. Ikusaba, Hanamura, and Hinata himself were clearly visible by all of us at the time of the crime.”

“Yes, that’s why Hinata and I were the ones who investigated…” Mukuro corroborated. She was leaning against her podium as if she was going to fall asleep there, “Well, everybody investigated, but you know… We did the brute work… Ah, it’s so late, I’m really tired. But I’ll tell you about what I found in the old hotel building, when we’re done with alibis and stuff.”

“Kazuichi, Peko, and Saionji all have alibis from my perspective,” Fuyuhiko said, “The four of us would have noticed if any of us stood up during the show.”

“I’ll admit I ain’t got an alibi,” Akane spoke up, “I sat in the back by myself, and I arrived after everybody else, and I don’t think anyone noticed when I did so they also wouldn’t have noticed when I left!” She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms, “It wasn’t me, but it’d be damn suspicious if I wasn’t totally honest about that! I’m sure the evidence will be on my side, though!”

“Yamaguchi and I sat next to each other,” Mahiru said, “And Komaeda was with us. Yamaguchi and Komaeda both left for brief periods during the show, but that was before eleven. For wounds like those Tanaka sustained, even the luckiest, most hardy person couldn’t hold out for longer than half an hour.”

“I was with Mikan and Nidai,” Sonia said, “The only one of us who left at any point was me, and that was at about fifteen minutes to midnight. I got back just in time for the last song. I went to use the bathroom, and it was after Tanaka was dead.”

“Ibuki, uh, wasn’t sitting near anybody…” Ibuki mumbled, “It’s bad to say that, right? But Owari said it so Ibuki has to, too. Does that mean Owari and Ibuki are the only ones who don’t have alibis? That’s no good at all…”

“Yeah, it’s not good,” Akane agreed, “So it’s already down to two suspects. It’s between me, and Mioda. Forgive me for saying this, and maybe I’m biased, but I think…”

“Of course you’d say it’s Mioda, to protect yourself,” Hajime complained, “It can’t be as simple as that.”

“Oh, no, I agree with you,” Akane said, “It can’t be that simple! I think that it wasn’t actually either one of us.”

“How can that be possible, though?” Sonia asked, “Every single person here has at least two others who can verify their alibis, but you two. Even if it was the work of somebody and an accomplice, I don’t think an entire seated group would be in on it, especially since our seating ended up quite random, seemingly. You couldn’t convince two people to lie for you in this situation.”

“Yeah, well…” Teruteru piped up, “That’s the weird thing about it! I was thinking and thinking just now, and you’re right, it seems super impossible that it’s not one of these two lovely but frankly alibi-less ladies… But then I realized something. The murder happened four minutes after half an hour before the end of the show, right?”

“That’s what the Monokuma file implies, yes,” Mukuro said, “What are you getting at here…?”

“At that time, we were playing that really ~romantic~ song!” Hanamura exclaimed, “I remember because I pushed to have it in the setlist, and you guys said okay, but it had to be in the middle so it wasn’t one of the big songs, and I checked the time right before, and I know all the girls were definitely in the audience during that song. I mean, actually, I don’t think anybody moved at that time, or half an hour before! I watch people real closely, you know.”

“I knew your lecherous nature would somehow come in handy in this situation,” Hajime said, “But that makes it very confusing, doesn’t it? We thought that determining alibis would point us in the right direction, but the truth is, everybody has an alibi for the time of death. So we need a different approach. When was the last time Tanaka was seen alive? And what exactly is this Monokuma Motive Number One?”

“Sonia and I checked on him during the first intermission, he was fine then,” Souda said.

“Ibuki checked during the second! Tanaka was still alive and enthusiastic!” Ibuki noted, “That was probably the most recent time anyone visited him innocently, yeah yeah?”

“Probably,” Hajime agreed, “And as for what Monokuma Motive Number One is, well, that’s hard to figure out. If anybody admits that they know what it is, then they admit they’re the culprit. So, I guess it’s time we start looking at the physical evidence we collected… And see if there’s a way anybody could have gotten around that alibi conundrum.”


	47. First Trial (Accursed Brassiere)

“Physical evidence, yes, right,” Mukuro snapped to attention, as if she’d been asleep through the duration of the previous alibi debate, “In the old hotel building, I found a few things, and didn’t find a few things that I should have. Owari’s kimono was folded up there. Saionji’s normal clothing, my normal clothing, and Mioda’s normal clothing. Most of my normal clothing, actually. The kimonos were offered to us with bralettes that would look nicer, wouldn’t show the straps. Mioda left hers with her clothes and wore her normal bra. Saionji’s normal bra was with her clothes. My bra was missing, though.”

“What color?” Teruteru asked.

“Is now really the time to ask a question like that…?” Mukuro asked, scratching at her own cheek idly.

“No, I mean, Hanamura has an actual reason to be asking that right now,” Hajime said, then pulled out the deep-fried bra, “Because this one, that’s got bloodstains on it, and Owari found in one of her friers, is white.”

“Oh. Pink,” Mukuro answered without hesitation when given the reason. Fuyuhiko couldn’t help but feel like that color seemed strange for her to wear. Not out of character; Actually, it suited her more, but it didn’t suit her everyday color scheme, or that of a lucky student in general. If there was one thing everyone knew about Lucky Students, it’s that they were overwhelmingly based around the color green.

“Since you do have that perfect alibi,” Hajime said, “I think we can assume that whoever tried to discard of this bra, knew that they could find one to wear in the old hotel building.”

“Well, it’s not Owari,” Mukuro said, waving a hand dismissively, “Even though she’s closest to my bra size, it’s obvious that she’s wearing her own right now. She’s the only one it’s obvious on, actually, the kimonos are loose enough to hide an ill-fitted bra.”

“Why would this girl take a bra that doesn’t fit instead of one of the bralettes, though?” Souda asked, “I mean, not that I really comprehend the difference, but wouldn’t seeing pink straps be a dead giveaway?”

“Quite the opposite,” Mukuro said, “If this girl’s bra straps slipped from her kimono at any point earlier, then seeing no straps on her shoulders if it happened again would be off-putting. Plus, my pink bra did have white straps, so…”

“That settles it, then!” Teruteru called out, “In order to find the culprit, ladies, you all need to take off your shirts! Reveal the accursed brassiere!”

“The accursed brassiere?” Sonia asked, “That sounds like something Tanaka would say, if he was a clueless pervert like you are.”

“I may have been trying a bit too hard there to hide my enthusiasm, I’ll admit,” Teruteru said, fidgeting at his podium, “But that doesn’t matter, right? It has to happen anyway, right?”

“Whoa-popo!” Monokuma called out, “No way! Can’t show that in a Christian Manga! Underwear-clad teenage girls all in a courtroom? That’s just asking to be taken waaaay outta context! Damn teenagers. At this rate, it’s gonna be fifty Killing Games from now and I’ll still have to yell at you not to take your shirts off to prove something in a class trial! There’s other evidence here. Shirtlessness should always be a last ditch effort!”

“Thanks, Monokuma,” Hajime said, then held out something in his hand. A piece of beige fabric, and a small bit of clear plastic, “This is what I found in the first aid tent which seemed out of place. The fabric was stuck to one of the poles, but had almost no blood on it. The bit of plastic was on the floor.”

“That plastic…” Fuyuhiko mumbled, then startled as he noticed everybody was looking at him, expecting more, “Ah! I think, it looked kind of familiar. I need to do some more thinking, though. Carry on.”

“Anyway, I think we can assume the beige fabric got snagged on the pole after it was already through Tanaka and the cot,” Hajime said, “Since it lacks in blood.”

“It’s got to be somebody’s clothing, too,” Peko said, “Nothing else is beige.”

“Well,” Ibuki piped up, “Beige describes the inner lining of like, almost everybody’s kimonos.”

“It could be from Saionji’s kimono,” Mukuro offered, “The scraps from my modifications weren’t in the old building anymore either.”

“I think that’s our cue, Kazuichi…” Mikan spoke, quiet and nervous.

“Huh? Oh, right,” Souda said, pulling some similarly beige scraps, as well as some with the color of Hiyoko’s kimono, from his jumpsuit. Some were more bloodstained than others, “I almost forgot. Tsumiki and I found these scattered around the extra tents. Some of them were kind of hidden, some of them weren’t. But they are, definitely, the scraps from Saionji’s kimono.”

“That doesn’t implicate me at all, though!” Hiyoko defended herself, “I may act like a jack-off’s left toenail sometimes, but I wouldn’t have killed somebody in such an awful way! Besides, those are the bits of my kimono that I couldn’t wear anyway.”

“Nobody was saying that it implicated you,” Hajime said, “If anything, some random person using the scraps of your kimono…”

“What were they using it for?” Ibuki asked, holding a finger to her cheek in confusion.

Hajime didn’t even hesitate to give an explanation, “I’d assume that whoever killed Tanaka stripped down before killing him, and used the kimono scraps to wipe blood off of their skin. The reason the bra was discarded, bloody, would be in line with that theory. All in all, it seems like a very half-baked plan. Planning how to hide blood on oneself, but doing such a poor job at discarding of the items instrumental in that plan…”

“Aw, come on! Calling it a half-baked plan when we can’t figure out who did it yet? That’s insulting to everyone here, Hinata!” Nagito complained, then laughed a bit, “Really, though, you’re right. It is a stupid plan. The only reason it’s fooling us so far is chance. There are enough unknown elements that could only be this unknown out of mad luck.”

“Are you accusing me?” Sonia asked, and Fuyuhiko found himself glaring at Nagito unbidden. He was grasping at straws now, just to point the finger at the person he’d already admitted he hoped was the culprit. But, he’d helped Fuyuhiko too. The elements which were unknown due to chance…

“I know what that plastic is from!” Fuyuhiko called out, then pulled from his pocket the candy that Mikan had asked him to investigate, holding it out, “It’s probably… The wrapper from one of these. Whatever they are.”


	48. First Trial (Monokuma Motive Number One)

“Oh! The mystery candy!” Mikan exclaimed, then clasped her hands together, “Do you really think that could be relevant?”

“I think, maybe, they have to be,” Fuyuhiko said, “Well, if you think about it. If everybody has a flawless alibi for the time of death, then maybe these candies are poison, right?”

“Oh, that’s definitely possible,” Peko said, reacting to something that Fuyuhiko had said for the first time this trial, “Tsumiki, where did you find that again?”

“It was just in the pocket of my kimono,” Mikan answered, then looked around to the other girls, “Do yours have them too?”

With that, everybody went digging in the pockets of their kimonos. Well, everybody who was wearing one. Monomi disappeared for a moment, then reappeared with Akane’s kimono from the old building, and held up a candy from it. Moments later, Akane, Mikan, and… Hiyoko, were the only ones who weren’t holding up a candy. Akane because Monomi had hers, Mikan because Fuyuhiko had hers.

“Saionji,” Souda said, his voice weak, like he felt he shouldn’t say what he was about to, “Where’s yours?”

“I don’t know. There wasn’t one in my pocket,” Hiyoko said, shrinking away from his words, “Don’t tell me you’re actually suspecting me of this, asswipe! Come on. That was so fucking horrifying, I’ve never seen anything that awful in my life!”

“So you keep saying!” Nagito said, “But you know, you’re having the most exaggerated reaction, and you hardly even knew Tanaka. We could easily assume that you’re putting on an act just so you could use that very excuse.”

“Wh…What?” Hiyoko asked, going pale. She whirled to Fuyuhiko, grabbing his wrist with a wild look in her eyes, fearful. She was shaking again, like she had when she discovered the body, “Kuzuryuu… Come on, at least, you don’t believe them… Right? They’re being idiots! Stupid, stupid, fucking, idiots!”

Fuyuhiko didn’t get the chance to respond before Mahiru weighed in, “Stop harassing her. She wasn’t the only person who had access to her kimono’s pockets, after all. Ikusaba already admitted to making modifications to it.”

“Ye-Yeah, that’s right,” Hiyoko said, then let go of Fuyuhiko’s wrist and shouted, not at anybody in particular, more just toward the ceiling, “Not to mention I left it in the fucking bathroom for a while, too! We already know it was a girl, so any one of those bitches could have had access to my kimono before I started wearing it! “

“I believe her,” Fuyuhiko gave his answer to her pleas anyway, “She’s using dumb insults. She’s legitimately distraught, otherwise she’d be more clever. And, no offense, but Saionji would probably not be regretful enough if she did commit a murder to be this shaken up about it.”

“Yeah, that’s right! If I was gonna kill someone I’d have lots of foresight and planning and I wouldn’t be caught off guard if I was being suspected!” Hiyoko said, turning back to the front of her podium to address the rest of the courtroom as she agreed with Fuyuhiko’s frankly unflattering description of her character. Then, something seemed to dawn on her face, “I bet that whoever’s the most calm here did it! But, who is the most calm? Pekoyama, or Nevermind, or Nidai?”

“Huh?” Nekomaru blurted, seemingly snapped out of something. He’d been staring at a file folder, “Oh, apologies. I’ve been listening in, but mostly, I’ve just been pouring over the photographs I took. To see if anything was missed. I assure you, I am certainly not calm in this situation! I am quite frantically attempting to contribute in any way to finding the culprit!”

“As for me, Saionji, you were there for my alibi-” Peko started, only to be cut off by Mukuro.

“Noo, remember? If these candies are poison and it’s what got used to kill Tanaka… Then you know… None of our alibis mean anything…”

“That’s not quite right!” Hajime exclaimed, smacking a hand down against the podium, “All the alibis we thought we had mean nothing, but there’s still another time period we need to figure out alibis for. If we knew how long these poison candies take to go into effect, that is…”

“What makes you so sure the candies actually were used, though?” Yamaguchi asked, “Not to throw the trial off track again… But, we don’t know if they are poison. And if they are, how would somebody know that? How would somebody know it far enough in advance to steal Saionji’s to use?”

“Oh, that’s true,” Ibuki agreed with Yamaguchi almost too quickly, “That’s a smart thing to think! Like, really, who knew what those things did? Do they do the thing? How long does it take for them to do it? Let’s find out. Monokumaaaa?”

“Upupu! I can’t answer any of those questions yet! After all, we still don’t know if you’re on the right track! And if somebody does know about it already, but then I gave you all that knowledge?” Monokuma shook its head, “Then I totally eliminate a lead for you! That’s unfair! And super rude! Why would I do that? Besides, the knowledge is readily available to you at any time anyway. I don’t have to explain at all.”

“That knowledge is readily available?” Nagito asked, “You say that, but none of us who are innocent has found it.”

“Maybe they have,” Hiyoko said, “But you’re such a fucking trigger-happy suspect gunner that they think if they tell you about it, then they’ll immediately be pointed at as the culprit!”

“Do you know? Since we’ve already assumed that you aren’t the killer?” Nagito asked.

Hiyoko pouted and looked away, “No, I don’t. But you know. If somebody knows what it is they gotta be the culprit? So how can you know someone innocent didn’t figure it out too?”

“Well…” Nagito trailed off, “That’s a good point.”

“Jeeze,” Sonia spoke up, leaning a hand against her own face, “I was expecting better from you! After all, you’re all Ultimates! Your hope is supposed to shine beautifully and ephemerally above all other hopes, and yet you’re being this dumb about this? Okay, I guess that maybe you do need a push in the right direction. Those candies are Monokuma Motive Number One. And that motive is described right there in the handbook. Why would you not think to look there for an explanation on a strange item delivered from Monokuma or Monomi? I’m truly, thoroughly, soul-crushingly disappointed in all of you.”


	49. First Trial (Sonia your Hope is Showing)

“Miss Nevermind? You…” Teruteru questioned, “You knew about this, this whole time! The perfect naive lucky schoolgirl was keeping a secret like that?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Sonia said, smiling around sweetly at everyone in spite of her words, “Of course, I am not the only person who knows that about the candy. I was really hoping you’d figure it out on your own, though. We’ve been put in this situation, so it’s a great opportunity for your talents to shine… And yet, you find yourselves running into walls without input from somebody as utterly trivial as me? It’s appalling! I may just faint if I keep thinking about this.”

“This is a fucking murder! Not an opportunity! Not anything like that! Why… How the Hell could you believe something like that?” Hiyoko demanded, shouting straight at Sonia, “A fucking useless little one in a million lucky goddamn cockroach! The winning lottery number who blows it all on cocaine and glistening male prostitutes! The blackjack champion who wants to climb up on a rotting throne of dumb chance and shitty lies! And you think you have the nerve to say that this is an opportunity? The sheer balls that it would take to believe that! Fuck you, I’m gonna rip them right the Hell off!”

“How vulgar,” Sonia said, batting her eyes as she did to complete the innocent look, “But, exciting! I’ve never been insulted in such a harsh manner as any one of those statements, let alone all of them put together! Really, I thought you would be flattered that I admire you Ultimates so much that I want to see you shine bright, no matter the cost…”

“It really sounds to Ibuki like Sonia is confessing! Let’s all vote for her! She killed Tanaka and so she’s gotta go!” Ibuki cried out, “Let’s get this horrible trial over with!”

“Now, let’s not be hasty,” Sonia said, tapping at her own chin with a pout, “I mean, really… It’s not like I killed him. I told you. I’ll do anything for the chance to see you all shine! If that means someday dying for that to happen, of course, I’m ready and willing. At the same time, though… I want to be able to witness at least some of your rise to greatness. I had a part in this, but it’s not what you seem to think. Come on, I’m leading a horse to water! But I won’t make you drink. As Ultimates, you really should be capable of this much.”

“You staged the body,” Hajime realized.

“Holy shit,” Fuyuhiko said, but not in surprise. It was more that he couldn’t believe the situation.

“That’s what you did,” Hajime said, “You used Saionji’s scraps and Ikusaba’s bra to clean yourself up. You staged it in the fifteen minutes you were gone from the show. You made it look like a brutal murder, but you also made your plan only half-baked because you wanted us to puzzle it out. You left evidence on purpose. You disposed of evidence in halfhearted ways not just because you were in a hurry, but because you didn’t want to get away with it.”

“Yes,” Sonia said, “You figured it out. I mean, I had to hold your hand all the way there, but you made it! Thank you for slightly restoring my faith, Hinata.”

“But, you know, how did Sonia know to do that?” Ibuki asked, “How did she know the right time? The handbook says that the candy takes like three hours to set in if dissolved in-mouth, five if dissolved in-stomach. Huh. Don’t poisons usually work totally opposite that?”

“It’s my poison! So if I want it to work like that, it will!” Monokuma exclaimed, “And, now it’s time for an explanation, for those of you who don’t wanna bother reading the handbook. Monokuma Motive Number One! With a naming scheme like that, you bet your ass it’s got something to do with the fact that you’re all horny teenagers.”

“Ehhh?” Mikan questioned, turning red in the face, “Weren’t you just saying that we can’t take our shirts off for evidence because it would reflect badly on you!?”

“I’m a fickle master,” Monokuma said, “Anyway, it’s a super special poison. First, you stick it in your own mouth. Then, you kiss someone and pass the candy to them! The candy will kill the final person whose mouth it was in. The delay on the stomach version is so there’s still the opportunity to regurgitate it! And the aim of the game is… Hot potato! Kiss the poison to somebody else so soon before the time runs out, so that they’ll die before they get the chance to pass it on or send it back! Oh, also, swallowing it within half an hour of the 3 hour limit will not extend the time the poison takes.”

“So… Well, the time of the crime is really up in the air now, huh?” Nagito asked, stroking his own chin, “Five hours or three hours, but that only means when the candy was first put in somebody’s mouth, not when it reached Tanaka.”

“Three hours…” Yamaguchi said, “And Tanaka wouldn’t have been able to move to transmit it anywhere, so if we assume he was the intended target from the start, the new time of the crime would be approximately eight thirty, right? That falls right within the purview of the extended second intermission, since Hinata waited for it to get dark. Everyone was scattering all over during that intermission, but there is one person that we know went to the first aid tent at that time.”

“Ahaha! The mob boss is zeroing in on the criminal! How succulent, and ironic,” Sonia exclaimed, hands clasped together, “Don’t you know that snitches get stitches?”

“Sonia,” Akane said, standing on the other side of her from Gundam’s podium marker, “Shut the fuck up, will you? Nobody wants to hear this.”

“Why do you presume to speak for everybody, Owari?” Sonia asked, frowning at her, “I’m sure at least one other person here is just as fascinated as I am!”

“It doesn’t matter if that’s true, your shitty intermissions are delaying the truth!” Fuyuhiko snapped at her, blood softly boiling at the fact, and it was a fact, that Sonia was an accomplice in this murder. She wouldn’t even be properly punished, because she technically didn’t kill anyone.

“Right, the truth,” Yamaguchi said, narrowing his eyes before he pointed one fat finger at Ibuki, “At the right time to have activated the candy, you, Ibuki Mioda, admitted that you were in the infirmary tent!”


	50. First Trial (Ibuki)

"Ibuki!?" Ibuki questioned, almost shrieking, "Ibuki!? Ibuki!? Ibuuuki!?"

"Yes, it's a rather natural conclusion. You've become the primary suspect, Mioda," Mahiru said, backing Yamaguchi up, "And, frankly, I have to agree with that assessment. You were in the first aid tent at the right time, you were getting changed at the right time to swipe Saionji's candy… And you have been behaving quite oddly, this entire trial."

"Ibuki's gotta ask!! Is there a normal way to behave during a murder trial of her friends??" Ibuki yelled.

"You've jumped on every other suspect," Mahiru said, "Almost like you want us to suspect them. As long as we're suspecting anybody besides you, right?"

“Noo, no no no,” Ibuki protested, holding her own head and shaking, bow-legged, where she stood at her podium, “Not Ibuki… It’s not Ibuki… That’s unbelievable! Impossible! It can’t be! No way!”

“Mioda, stop with this-” Mahiru started, but Nagito cut her off.

“Koizumi,” Simply saying her name, with that tone, was enough to get her to defer to him, at least in this situation. An exasperated, ‘you had better let me speak’ sort of tone, “I don’t think that Mioda is trying to convince us she didn’t do it. I think that she really doesn’t believe it. I don’t think she knows.”

“Ibuki!” Ibuki started, then her voice fell softer than any of them had ever heard it, “Doesn’t know. Komaeda’s right. Ibuki doesn’t know. Ibuki doesn’t think she would do that, though. Ibuki’s hit her head a whole lot in her life, ya know? So Ibuki does forget a lot of things, a lot of the time…”

“But that doesn’t speak to character,” Nagito said, “Memory loss, I mean. The only way to really combat a problem like that is to know yourself pretty well, and be able to say ‘that sounds like me’ or ‘I don’t think I’d do that’. And Mioda clearly doesn’t think she’d kill somebody.”

“She’d subconsciously know if she did, though, and she’d still be trying to save her own skin by acting up through this trial, right?” Mahiru asked.

“Not quite,” Nagito said, “Her behavior seems in line with somebody who’s full of compassion and has a serious disadvantage in a Killing Game and in a trial. She’s reasonably terrified.”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Ibuki agreed, and now that somebody was defending her she seemed much more composed, like Mahiru had almost convinced her that she’d committed the crime, “I’m super, duper scared. And now all of you know my weakness too, that I can totally forget stuff. I’m an unreliable witness and it’d be super easy to take advantage of me, so Ibuki kept it a secret! But my memory is soo spotty. I never know the whole truth about anything. And Ibuki thought… Maybe Sonia asked her to do the crime, and I didn’t know what I was really doing, and then I forgot because I was so freaked out?”

“Aww, you’re precious,” Sonia said, “And kind of pathetic. I can’t keep watching this, no way, that would make me a real villain. Mioda, I wasn’t working with you. All of you could figure that out, anyhow. After all, how would I have actually known when Mioda transferred a candy, if she had?”

“If she told you?” Mahiru said.

“Please,” Sonia sighed, “Look at her. She doesn’t know the meaning of discreet. No, a lack of alibi for me is just as important as a lack of alibi for the real culprit. And I was actually accounted for through the second intermission, believe it or don’t, it’s your funeral.”

“So, Tanaka swallowed his candy,” Peko decided, planting one fist in her own open palm, “And it was approximately five hours. So, at the start of the first intermission. That’s why Nevermind had to cut it so close with staging the body, taking fifteen minutes so close to the end of the show. She had to wait the absolute longest possible time before the poison killed him, and as the time of death tells us, she was correct to wait that long.”

“No, if it was the start of the first intermission, wouldn’t Tanaka have died half an hour later?” Nekomaru asked, “The timelines don’t match up quite right…”

“Everything’s approximate!” Monokuma called out, “Poison ain’t precise! Besides, it’s got some very complicated chemicals, to behave like a hot potato kissing booth the way it does! All sorts of factors could have skewed the poison’s timing, up to an hour shorter or longer than proposed!”

“Could it be something like, swallowing it right away?” Souda asked.

“Swallowing it so soon after activating it? Would totally skew the results, yeah. Cause that’s not really what it was made for,” Monokuma said, “You guys totally dropped the ball on using this motive properly…”

“It’s not a very good motive,” Mukuro spoke up, “After all, you could also avoid dying just by spitting it onto the ground. Unless somebody really waited till the last second to pass it to you, you could just negate the murder attempt…”

“W-Well…” Monokuma protested, “The idea was that you’d be passin’ em all around to everybody! And that way if you pushed it too long to pass it on, then you’d be the one dead with the last one in the chain being the culprit, and, um…”

“Meaniekuma,” Monomi finally spoke again, “Did you try and make a motive like this just to spite me?”

“Ahaha, maybe I did…” Monokuma admitted, “But it still resulted in a murder, so, who gives a fuck? I’m still a boss!”

“Wow. I’m almost kind of flattered that you made a kissing motive just to spite lil ol me!” Monomi exclaimed, “I thought you didn’t think of me often enough to do something like that… You really do care! Do you care enough to do me one more, itty-bitty, widdle favor?”

Yes, Monomi said widdle.

“What’s that?” Monokuma asked.

“Don’t execute the culllprit when this trial is done?” Monomi asked, holding her paws under her chin and trying to look cute, but mostly just appearing more like a strangled chicken.

“Absolutely fucking not! What do I look like, some sort of santa claus? I’m a krampus, if that! And the culprit has to get executed, or else it’s not a Killing Game!” Monokuma exclaimed, then looked back to the students, “So, have you got any ideas who that really is yet?”

“I… Do,” Souda called out.


	51. First Trial (Closing Argument)

“Kazuichi?” Hiyoko asked, “You know who the culprit is?”

“Yeah,” Souda admitted, “But, hey. You won’t hate me, right?”

“Idiot, I already hate you,” Hiyoko said, but suddenly, when she saw the look on his face, retracted her words, “But, okay, no. Fine, I’ll admit it, I care about your dumb ass and I won’t hate you. So spit it out already!”

“It’s me,” Souda said, the words simple and without fanfare. So unimportantly stated that nobody reacted at first, and he could keep addressing Hiyoko in that level and casual tone, “I’m sorry. I wanted to admit it to you as soon as I saw how upset you were. How badly you were taking it. I wanted to just apologize over and over again, that I didn’t know what Sonia was going to do to the body, that you shouldn’t have had to see that. But I couldn’t. That would have ruined her plan. Her plan and Tanaka’s plan.”

“Tanaka’s plan…?” Fuyuhiko questioned, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Shit. Okay, look, I’ll explain the whole thing. I guess,” Souda shrugged his shoulders, “This’ll be my confession.”

[SOUDA KAZUICHI’s **first** and **final** CLASS TRIAL CLOSING ARGUMENT and CONFESSION!]

It started just after Tanaka’s leg was broken. Sonia, having noticed the candy in her kimono, researched it using the Monokuma handbook. Learning the nature of Monokuma Motive Number One, she came up with a special plan. A plan to spin an unforgettable mystery. A thrilling and complicated one that would, as she said, spur the true hope of an Ultimate Student to shine. And with verbiage like that, the Ultimate Coach had to agree.

The first step of the plan was to acquire somebody, anybody else’s candy. Draw blame away from anyone who was actually involved, and the opportunity was presented. Originally, the candy was stolen from Owari’s kimono, that was placed into Sonia’s care immediately after its delivery. Fortuitous, but Akane could have too many opportunities for alibi to ever hold water as a temporary suspect, so when the opportunity presented itself, Sonia swapped the candy from Saionji’s kimono into Owari’s pocket instead.

The plan, hatched by Sonia and Tanaka, had one more person in on it; The culprit. Originally, the plan was a bit different. The culprit would eat the candy alone, and die. Sonia would stage the crime scene, and Tanaka would give faulty witness testimony involving a mask that never really existed, among other things. This was their plan to create a mystery that would test the mettle of the Ultimate Students, and yet only have one death. The culprit. Me.

Things didn’t go according to plan, though. Tanaka realized that, even if the candy wasn’t given to me via mouth, Monokuma’s rules would likely still implicate Sonia as the blackened. Believing that, in spite of his status as Ultimate Coach, Sonia could actually improve the hope of the Ultimates more than he ever could, Tanaka kissed me and stole the candy from my mouth. Before I could react, he’d swallowed it.

I attempted to administer an emetic against his will, but although he vomited several times, he always managed to swallow the poisoned candy back down. He begged me not to try again, and assured me of something Sonia had told him, that made all of this seem okay. That Sonia said to him, Monokuma told her this wasn’t real. That it was a computer simulation. That people can die to further the hope of others, and still come out okay on the other side.

So I let him be. I told Sonia about the situation. She still staged the body. But I’m the culprit now. The candy was in my mouth directly before him. Me.

Souda Kazuichi.

[Final Argument END]

“Upupu! Dang, I did say that this is a simulation, didn’t I? But I never said nothing about survival!” Monokuma exclaimed, “If you die in the game you die in real life! In part because returning your virtual consciousness to your body with memories of death requires a lot of extra work and access to Alter Ego software, and also in part because as soon as you die here your real life bodies are jettisoned! Thrown out to sea, where without a conscious thought in your head, they sink and drown like pathetic pieces of human driftwood. Death’s permanent, folks! Don’t ever let anyone convince you it’s not, or clearly, you’ll do some dumb shit!”

“Wh…What?” Souda questioned, then brought his arms up around himself, “I thought… I mean… Tanaka’s really dead? I killed him for real? And Sonia was gonna kill me for real? And now I’m gonna die for real but probably in a way more painful way!?”

“You explained it better than I ever could, buddy!” Monokuma said, cackling again. It had all sorts of different laughs, all equally condescending.

“No way!” Hiyoko cried out, shouting in Monokuma’s direction, “That’s misleading! And Souda didn’t even mean to kill anybody! How can you kill him for that!?”

“Yeah, Ibuki thought that Monokuma wasn’t gonna point fingers for accidents!” Ibuki protested.

“So you remember that, of all things,” Monokuma complained, then loudly addressed the whole courtroom, “Look! This qualifies as assisted suicide, not an accident! By the rules of the motive, Tanaka’s blood is on Kazuichi’s hands! And for that, Kazuichi will have to be executed!”

“But…” Monomi prompted.

Monokuma grumbled, “But, as Monomi has so kindly pointed out, it won’t be immediate. I won’t push you to cast your actual votes in any reasonable time, so you can say your dumb goodbyes and whatever. Once you’ve said all you have to say to Kazuichi, please cast your vote. I will be going on break so I don’t have to hear the mushy stuff. Monomi, supervise them while I’m gone.”

“Yes, sir!” Monomi said, excited at being put even a tiny amount in charge of the students. She turned to them, and her enthusiasm vanished at seeing their faces. In the most depressed tone she could conjure, she said to them, “Well, I guess… You should… Be saying your goodbyes, and stuff, now…”


End file.
